Jacksonville joins race for federal funds

[JeffreyS]

Cities across the nation want in on a cash plan for infrastructure projects.

    * By David Hunt
    * Story updated at 5:02 AM on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2008



http://www.jacksonville.com/news/metro/2008-12-20/jacksonville_joins_race_for_federal_funds

Call it a trough mentality, with public officials from coast to coast lining up to feed on federal money. And it looks like Mayor John Peyton has serious competition to include Jacksonville in a developing grant program.

Hands cupped upward and extended, city bosses nationwide have more than 11,000 projects that could be considered in a plan to develop the nation's highways, schools and energy grid.

That figure comes from a U.S. Conference of Mayors study, which also says the projects would generate nearly 850,000 jobs but are estimated to cost more than $73 billion.

Jacksonville was included among the cities surveyed. But in the report's 607 pages, Jacksonville's projects take up only half of one.

"It's early in the process. There's still a lot of work to be done," Peyton said upon returning from Washington. "I don't know what other cities have submitted. I've heard some outrageous numbers."

When President-elect Barack Obama announced his idea to push cash into the economy through public works projects, words like "infrastructure" and "stimulus" began buzzing through news reports and city halls from Miami to San Francisco.

Both cities ask for millions upon millions of dollars in improvements to rail, airport and mass transit systems, according to the study.

It's not all roads, either.

Raleigh, N.C., is one area that wants more money to go green. The city laid out plans to spend a half-million dollars installing solar-powered water heaters in municipal buildings.

Planned road projects

Jacksonville's wish list includes many Better Jacksonville Plan road projects. The mayor recently announced sales tax revenue was coming up short, pushing back construction.

Partial funding for JEA's Greenland Energy Center and the city's controversial courthouse replacement project also made the list.

While the legislative framework for the plan is not set, the general idea - concentrating on already-planned projects - has drawn some criticism.

The concern is that the plan could be taking projects off the shelf just because they're available, not because they'd generate long-standing economic impact.

City Councilman Bill Bishop, who chairs the council's Transportation, Energy and Utilities committee, said he'd like the city to get money for commuter rail projects that would take pressure off the region's sprawling road network.

"We could never build enough roads," he said. "The problem is we don't have a rail project that's in the box ready to go."

As far as who gets funding, Bishop said he's ready to watch the battle for influence unfold.

"That's 100 percent politics," he said. "Who's to say we're more deserving than Atlanta or Chicago or Cedar Rapids, Iowa?"

Political maneuvering

Peyton serves on the Harry S. Truman Scholarship board and said he took advantage of a board-sponsored trip to the capital this week to chat about Jacksonville projects with staffers from the local delegation.

He said he's going back next month, this time on the city's dime, to lobby more seriously as the legislation is written. He said he'll partner with Council President Ronnie Fussell for the trip.

"Not only are the mayors calling, we're getting county commissioners and our neighbors in Georgia," said U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, a Jacksonville Democrat who's built a reputation for funneling billions of dollars in transportation funding to the First Coast.

Brown chairs a House transportation subcommittee. She said she expects work on the infrastructure stimulus bill to accelerate in January, with the finished plan possibly being the first bill Obama signs.

Brown said she expects about $85 billion of the stimulus program to go toward transportation, and she'd like to see money allocated for roads, commuter rail and rail improvements around the Port of Jacksonville.

Times-Union writer Larry Hannan contributed to this report.

david.hunt@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4025

[JeffreyS]

City Councilman Bill Bishop, who chairs the council's Transportation, Energy and Utilities committee, said he'd like the city to get money for commuter rail projects that would take pressure off the region's sprawling road network.

"We could never build enough roads," he said. "The problem is we don't have a rail project that's in the box ready to go."

Maybe we should send Bill Bishop to lobby instead of the Mayor and council president next month.

[BridgeTroll]

His he new to the rail bandwagon?  Lake, Ock... is Mr Bishop someone you have had discussions with?

[brainstormer]

Can we get Mr. Bishop on our side?  Sounds like he might be closer than everyone else in City Hall.  The TU is so unwilling to say what needs to be said.  The lack of vision for mass transit in Duval County will ultimately hurt us.  Peyton just wants a few million for more roads and he will probably get a little and then make a big deal about how great he is.  If we were on top of things and had a dream, a vision, a plan...we could with good common sense lobbying easily pull off funding for commuter rail, skyway extension, etc.  Look at the cities like Miami, Sacramento, Phoenix.  They are not afraid to dream big.  Why do we have to settle with a few miles of roads?  We will miss out because of our lack of leadership.
When it comes to lobbying if we took a Duval County approach, with our new port expansion, sprawling suburbs and traffic problems, we have more than enough to try to get funding for commuter rail.  The reason for this plan is to stimulate growth.  Building a few roads to the port isn't going to stimulate much in the grand scheme of things.  However, commuter rail linking all areas of the county would stimulate growth throughout and be a great long term investment for this city and county.  I wouldn't be surprised if Peyton somehow gets us completely screwed over.  We could end up with nothing but another 4 lane highway to the ocean!  People you've got to speak up!  We think his handling of the courthouse is bad...this could be an even worse boondoggle!

[GatorShane]

I totally agree with the previous statements. We should have had a plan in place before we even sent a request for these funds. We arent going to get money for something if we dont  have a vision and commitment from all of our political forces. This city focuses to much on building roads(most of which should have been built 10 years ago anyway) instead of putting a strong effort toward nass transit. I think we are going to get screwed on this. If this money is suppossed to replace lost revenue from Better Jax then we should demand that future revenue from the sales tax be used to build commuter rail and extend the Skyway. I dont always like her style, but thank god for Corrine Brown. She is the one that truly looks out for our transportation needs. Our city council is asleep at the wheel and we need to let them know in mass that they need to get off their asses and start thinking out of the box. 

[thelakelander]

Bishop gets it.  We need more like him who see the light at the end of the tunnel and are willing to publicly say so.  We'll be doing all we can to continue to convince our leaders that rail is the way to go.

[BridgeTroll]

Bishop gets it.  We need more like him who see the light at the end of the tunnel and are willing to publicly say so.  We'll be doing all we can to continue to convince our leaders that rail is the way to go.

Seems he needs more exposure, and mass transit/rail advocates need more exposure to him.  Does he have published statements or a platform that people can rally behind?

[ProjectMaximus]

well, he was the dissenting voice on the courthouse, right? The one that said we should go vertical with it?

[brainstormer]

Are there any others on the council who could be possible hopefuls to back Bishop?  Do any of you know these people?  Who has a backbone?  I never hear about any of them...are they really just a lackluster do nothing bunch?  Who on here has the insight?  Lake?  ProjectMax? Ock?
And now that I think about it, Bishop was the one who spoke out against the courthouse design.  Unfortunately the lone dissenter.

[Coolyfett]

Can we get Mr. Bishop on our side?  Sounds like he might be closer than everyone else in City Hall.  The TU is so unwilling to say what needs to be said.  The lack of vision for mass transit in Duval County will ultimately hurt us.  Peyton just wants a few million for more roads and he will probably get a little and then make a big deal about how great he is.  If we were on top of things and had a dream, a vision, a plan...we could with good common sense lobbying easily pull off funding for commuter rail, skyway extension, etc.  Look at the cities like Miami, Sacramento, Phoenix.  They are not afraid to dream big.  Why do we have to settle with a few miles of roads?  We will miss out because of our lack of leadership.
When it comes to lobbying if we took a Duval County approach, with our new port expansion, sprawling suburbs and traffic problems, we have more than enough to try to get funding for commuter rail.  The reason for this plan is to stimulate growth.  Building a few roads to the port isn't going to stimulate much in the grand scheme of things.  However, commuter rail linking all areas of the county would stimulate growth throughout and be a great long term investment for this city and county.  I wouldn't be surprised if Peyton somehow gets us completely screwed over.  We could end up with nothing but another 4 lane highway to the ocean!  People you've got to speak up!  We think his handling of the courthouse is bad...this could be an even worse boondoggle!

See bold print!

[tufsu1]

People...

JTA is studying rail....but it does take time....now maybe these studies should have been done 10+ years ago....and unfortunately the regional study finished about 8 years ago recommended BRT as a first step to rail....over the last few years, that's the only thing that FTA has supported...thankfully, that should change very soon.

The fact is the stimulus package is primarily going to projects that are on the shelf, ready to go....like most cities, here in Jacksonville that means the majority of the projects are roads.

But here's the bright side....if the stimulus $ is used to fund some BetterJax road projects, it makes it more less likely that the $100 million reserved for transit will be raided.

[thelakelander]

Jax should take a page out of Houston's (light rail), Austin's ("urban" commuter rail) and Detroit's (commuter rail) book.  Go ahead and use local funds to get a starter rail line up and running.  The least we could do is to take that $100 million (or whatever is left of it) and change the terms to where it can only be used for fixed rail.  It alone is more than enough to get something off the ground (and pay for a couple of years of O&M) in the short term.  Plus the investment can be used as a matching local investment for federal money to expand.  If only "ready-to-go" projects can be apart of the stimulus package, then we should seek the funding for "high priority" road projects from that pot.  In this scenerio, we see immediate investment, which (as Peyton says) helps puts people back to work.  However, unlike the plan currently on the table, the short term investment would be a part of a long term plan that brings continued economic prosperity to the community (more bang for the local buck).


The TECO Streetcar line:  A $32 million investment that has spurred over a $1 billion in economic development since its opening in 2002.  Instead of diverting transit funds to widen Girvin Road, imagine what something like this could do for Jacksonville.

[vicupstate]

Yes, JTA is studying rail, but are they legitimately considering it or is it just window dressing ??  I hope it's the former.

For comparison sake, here is what Charlotte is asking for in the stimulus package.

City officials have submitted to the U.S. Conference of Mayors a list of projects totaling more than $421 million in anticipation of President-elect Obama's bid to stimulate the economy by creating jobs.

The list includes 37 items that officials estimate could create about 3,700 jobs and net $110 million for the extension of the Lynx transit system's Blue Line and $13 million for the widening of N.C. 29/U.S. 49.

All of the projects are considered “ready to go,” which means they could be underway by 2010. If they were to come through, it could be a boon for the city.

“It would be like Christmas for the city for two years,” said Republican Councilman John Lassiter.

But Lassiter admits that he is skeptical about the likelihood of the money reaching the Queen City anytime soon. It is an opinion shared by Mayor Pat McCrory.

“I think there are some unrealistic expectations about what the federal government can do,” said McCrory, also a Republican. “Even if they wanted to do this, there is not a process in place to do it.”

Obama and congressional Democrats have entered discussion about a potential $800 billion package that could include more than $350 billion for investments in infrastructure, alternative energy plans and other priorities. The president-elect hopes the plan would create or preserve 3 million jobs.

Charlotte is one of 641 cities that submitted a list. Officials with the Conference of Mayors said a total of 15,221 infrastructure projects were submitted to them, representing an investment of $96 billion and potentially creating 1.2 million jobs.

Topping Charlotte's wish list are transportation needs. Streets and roads account for $131 million and could create 1,310 jobs. Transit issues, such as Lynx expansion and park-and-ride lots, total 200 million and could create 2,000 jobs.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/597/story/428023.html

BTW, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory has announced he is not seeking re-election, maybe he can be convinced to move to  Jax and run for mayor.


 

[Ocklawaha]

Well I've been quiet all day, watching from my cage. Don't say I didn't tell you so but the list of State stimiulus
requests has been published and it really sucks.

Our neighbor to the Northwest, Alabama has asked for a couple of Billion and every dime of it is for roads.

Georgia? Too early to call, but probably more of the same.

Florida? Glad you asked, $6.5 Billion (if memory serves me) and a whooping 1% for Mass Transit of all kinds.

SO WHATS ON OUR PLATE?

Streetcar: Miami, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota, Ft. Lauderdale all have plans in the loop.

BRT: Miami-Dade, Tampa and Jacksonville have systems or dreams of one.

Heavy Rail: Miami Metro needs some serious expansion.

Commuter Rail: West Palm-Ft. Lauderdale-Miami; as well as Tampa-St Pete, Poinciana-Orlando-Deland; Also Mount Dora/Eustis - Tavares - Apopka - Orlando, have systems up and running or ready to fly.

Regional Amtrak: Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-West Palm-Winter Haven-Auburndale-Orlando; also: Tampa-Lakeland-Auburndale-(Miami) or (Orlando); also Fort Myers-Lakeland (probably a connecting train section), all have plans up and ready to go.

Long Distance Amtrak: Amtrak plans to install 5 daily trains on each of 3 Florida routes:
Jacksonville-Orlando-Tampa/Miami
Jacksonville-Ocala-Lakeland-Tampa/Miami
Jacksonville-Daytona Beach-Ft.Pierce-Miami
Jacksonville-Tallahassee-New Orleans
Jacksonville does not have a single professional person to bring this hub back into our city, SANFORD DOES!

Corridor Rail: Daytona Beach and Titusville (Port Canaveral)- Sanford and/or Orlando is on the drawing boards.
Georgia has a plan for a Atlanta-Macon-Jacksonville train, Florida has ignored the request for joint funding.

High Speed Rail: Amtrak and CSX proposal with backing of Congress to bring the Northeast Corridor to Miami, Miami is building the station, CSX is building the yards and by-pass, Jacksonville is ignoring the process.  

NOT A DIME OF IT WILL GET FUNDED WITH THIS BACKWARD BUNCH AT THE THROTTLE!

JACKSONVILLE HAS:

The only current hub of rail routes in Florida,
The only city served by 3 major and 3 terminal roads
The only city with a Union Station already in place (the convention center)

JACKSONVILLE IS:

The only city requesting nearly all of its stimilus be spent on road projects with money taken from dedicated Transit Funds.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CONSIDER THIS:

With a little professional help, Jacksonville could have:

Amtrak Long Distance Hub at Jacksonville Union Terminal

7 trains daily from  New York/Washington via Raleigh, Charleston or Charlotte
2 trains daily from Atlanta
3 trains daily from Pensacola and/or New Orleans
RETURN OF THE CHICAGO-MEMPHIS- BIRMINGHAM -NASHVILLE-CINCINNATI - Florida markets.
5 trains daily from Miami - Daytona Beach
5 trains daily from Ocala- Lakeland - Tampa/Miami (with Fort Myers through cars)
5 trains daily from Orlando - Miami/Tampa

SOMETHING LIKE 54 trains a day are on the dream sheet RIGHT NOW, each with a crew (5-15 persons) change in Jacksonville.

54 trains buying diesel fuel
54 trains stocking ice, water, bedding-blankets-towels, dining and lounge cars
54 trains being washed
54 trians having AC/Heat adjusted, wheel checks, small rolling repairs.
54 trains being switched by even more crews 24/7/365

3,240 passengers a day with current numbers passing through our dead convention center to board trains - based on current per train ridership in Jacksonville? Imagine...

3,240 Meals daily
3,240 Game Room quarters
3,240 Newspapers, books and magazines sold
3,240 cups of coffee at Union Station Java
3,240 railroad approved watches considered at Terminal Jewelery
3,240 Jacksonville Tee Shirts purchased
3,240 bags of Florida Oranges taken home

But Bob, all those boarding passengers won't buy all that stuff...
NOPE!
But add the equal number of detraning passengers
+
Station staff
+
railroad crews
+
service force
+
retail, restaurant, wholesale employees
+
We've created an indoor "JACKSONVILLE LANDING" with a purpose.

Never mind, grubby little people don't think like this. We want our 1% and by God we'll probably get it. Way to go Jacksonville! F**K**G NEANDERTHALS!

OCKLAWAHA
With 3,240 reasons to be pissed off.

[ProjectMaximus]

The TECO seems to have been a terrific catalyst for development, Lake. If only we could start small to get the ball rolling...

Vic, I am a naturally trusting person, so from the video/interviews i've watched and articles i've read, I've got to think that at least some of the people in charge are seriously pushing for commuter rail. It may just be window dressing to some of our leaders, but I do believe there are a few who are actually working for it. And thanks for the Charlotte update. I guess the Panthers will beat us again.