Next City Ponders JTA Skyway's Future

[Metro Jacksonville]

Next City Ponders JTA Skyway's Future



The residents of Jacksonville aren't the only community concerned about the future of the JTA Skyway and its potential to serve more than just the core of downtown Jacksonville.

Read More: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2016-apr-next-city-ponders-jta-skyways-future

[jcjohnpaint]

Great shout out. 

[Ocklawaha]

HEE! HEE!

[spuwho]

Why is a modern light rail too heavy, and a heritage streetcar light enough?

PCC weighs 42,000 pounds, about 10.5 thousand pounds per axle.

Bombardier Flexity 2 LRT is 40 long tons per 5 units, which is just under 10 thousand pounds per axle.

Did you already explain this elsewhere and I missed it?

[thelakelander]

^According to the JTA report, the crush load weight makes it too much.

[Ocklawaha]

I've always thought the JTA 'data' was as full of crap as 90% of everything else that comes out of JTA. The concrete beams weigh over 100,000 pounds (according to what I was able to mine on the internet) and the former planner, ABSOLUTELY NO FRIEND OF STREETCARS, told me personally yes, the whole thing is engineered to easily withstand the weight of any streetcar. This leaves us with a huge hole in our information and the inability to fight for right, when they play games with the true numbers.

If we could get a volunteer civil engineer to just take a look at the plans, dead weight, live weight, etc. we might be able to call foul where we see one. If it turned out that this is all mis-information, then taking it to the media and presenting it to Council and mayor would torpedo their propaganda machine and open them up to a class action law suit.

[FlaBoy]

This would be an amazing solution for Jax and actually enable us to have a real discussion about expansion. Paying money back to the Feds does not sound like a good option to most. A streetcar to Brooklyn, Riverside, and into Springfield would help with development in the core unlike anything we have seen in years.

[Sonic101]

Are there any wind restrictions for the Skyway, especially for crossing the Acosta Bridge? Would new wind restrictions have to be implemented or changed with the modification to streetcar? I have a strange penchant for taking trains in bad weather to watch other traffic driving slow 

[jaxlore]

Good to see some more exposure on this.This is definitely the way to go.