Jacksonville Lawmakers shoot for Federal Earmarks

[thelakelander]

Local lawmakers submit funding requests for projects

They put in requests for special transportation project money.

Area lawmakers have requested more than $220 million in federal funds for 22 transportation projects in North Florida. They'll be competing with more than 6,800 other requests - commonly called earmarks - for money for roads, bridges and mass transit.

All told, the region's U.S. House members submitted requests for 31 projects, but about a third of them are on more than one list. Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Fla., listed 17 projects, while Rep. Ander Crenshaw, R-Fla., has listed nine, Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., has put in for three and Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., two.

"If you don't submit a project, you can't allocate funds to it," said Nick Martinelli, legislative director for Brown. "So if we're considering money for something, we have to list it. Not all projects can be funded, and another member's final priorities might be different than ours."

The lists submitted to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure were pared from requests from local entities, such as the Jacksonville Transportation Authority.

At the end of the appropriations process, when each area lawmaker's allocation is known, they will get together to sort projects and decide priorities, Martinelli said.

The House highway bill, outlining the next six years of spending, is expected to be about $400 billion, The Associated Press reported.

The committee hopes to have legislation marked up before the August recess, Brian Waldrip, legislative director for Mica, told the Times-Union. Mica is the ranking member of the committee.

The last highway act, a $286 billion package that was passed in 2005 and expires at the end of September, contained about 6,300 requests worth about $24 billion, according to the AP.

But unlike in the past, there are new accountability requirements. Lawmakers were required to post their requests on their personal Web sites before they submitted them and they must provide letters of support from local officials and a certificate verifying that they have no financial interest in the project, the AP reported. Every project in the bill will have a member's name attached to it.

All four area House members had their requests posted on their Web sites by Wednesday. Senate members have yet to submit what could be an additional thousands of requests, according to the AP.

REGIONAL HOUSE MEMBERS' WISH LIST

Here are the area projects and funds requested by North Florida members of the U.S. House of Representatives, listed by the local entity that originally requested the funds. Asterisks mark projects that are requested by more than one House member:

Corrine Brown, D-Fla. 3rd (904) 354-1652, house.gov/corrinebrown

JACKSONVILLE TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY *Intermodal center: Preliminary design of a regional intermodal center near downtown Jacksonville ($12.1 million). *Port entrance: Final design and construction of new JaxPort entrance roads connecting to Florida 9A (Interstate 295) and Interstate 95 ($5 million). Bus rapid transit: Design of portions of a bus rapid transit corridor including bus lanes, right-of-way, transit stations, access connections and communications ($6 million). *Rail study: Completion of a commuter rail study for Nassau, Duval, Clay and St. Johns counties ($600,000). Buses: Replacement of aging buses ($8 million). Paratransit: Additional paratransit vehicles purchase ($3 million). *Beach, Regency intersections: Addition and modification of turn lanes and upgraded signals at the Beach Boulevard and University Boulevard intersection and Regency area high volume improvements ($6.4 million). *I-95 and Butler intersection: Completion of an interchange between I-95 and Butler Boulevard ($16.5 million). *Cecil connector: Design and right-of-way acquisition for an extension of Cecil Field Road from Branan Field Road to Cecil Commerce Center ($2.4 million).

JACKSONVILLE

*Main Street: Engineering, design, right-of-way acquisition and construction to widen Main Street from two to four lanes between I-295 and Pecan Park Road ($11.2 million). Heckscher-9A interchange: Engineering, design, right-of-way acquisition and construction of traffic flow improvements at the Florida 9A and Heckscher Drive interchange ($16 million). *9A expansion: Right-of-way, mitigation and construction of a ramp connecting northbound Florida 9A to northbound I-95 at the I-95/I-295 north interchange ($12,050,000). Bay Street garage: Construction of a 2,000-space parking multimodal garage ($24 million). Soutel Drive access road: Improvements to the Soutel Drive access road ($3 million).

JACKSONVILLE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT *Access road: Completion of linkage for truck traffic southbound on I-95 to Air Cargo Terminal area ($7.3 million).

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH FLORIDA Accident prevention system: Design and implementation of an Intelligent Traffic Control System ($3 million).

GREEN COVE SPRINGS MLK Boulevard: Extension of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to the east to U.S. 17 ($1 million).

Ander Crenshaw, R-Fla. 4th (904) 598-0481, crenshaw.house.gov

JACKSONVILLE

*Port road improvements: Design and construction, including additional lanes, of Florida 9A from Heckscher Drive to I-95 ($12,050,000). *Main Street improvements: Completion of pre-construction required to expand Main Street from two to four lanes between I-295 and Pecan Park Road and construct about one mile of additional lanes from New Berlin Road to Airport Center Drive ($11.2 million).

JACKSONVILLE AVIATION AUTHORITY *New connector: Construction of a new connector from I-295 to air cargo and passenger terminals at JIA ($7.3 million). JTA *Port entrance: Final design and construction of new JaxPort entrance roads and road capacity improvements to port area roads ($5 million). *Commuter rail transit: Completion of the feasibility analysis for a commuter rail transit system ($600,000). *I-95/Butler interchange: Completion of an interchange between I-95 and Butler ($6.5 million). *Beach, Regency intersections: Intersection improvements to Atlantic/Arlington Expressway and Monument Road; Atlantic/University; and Beach/University intersections ($6,400,000). *Intermodal center: Completion of design, right-of-way acquisition and construction of a regional intermodal terminal center ($12.1 million).

NASSAU COUNTY Florida Road 200: Final design and construction of Florida 200 (A1A) corridor west of Still Quarters Road to west of Rubin Road ($6 million).

John Mica, R-Fla. 7th (904) 810-5048, house.gov/mica

ST. JOHNS COUNTY County Road 210: First phase of right-of-way acquisition and construction of CR 210 overpass over U.S. 1 ($16 million). Florida 313: Right-of-way acquisition for Florida 313, north part planned from Florida 16 to U.S. 1 North ($13 million). Florida 9B: Design and right-of-way acquisition from Florida 9A to County Road 2209 ($28 million).

Cliff Stearns, R-Fla. 6th (904) 269-3203, house.gov/stearns

CLAY COUNTY County Road 218: Acquisition of pond sites and construction of road improvements to CR 218 from east of Cosmos Avenue to west of Pine Tree Lane ($19,837,500).

DUVAL COUNTY *Cecil Field Road: Design and right-of-way acquisition to extend Cecil Field Road from Branan Field Road to the Cecil Commerce Center ($2.4 million).

Sources: Congress members' staff, Web sites

http://www.jacksonville.com/news/metro/2009-05-26/story/local_lawmakers_submit_funding_requests_for_projects

[Ocklawaha]

Did I miss something? DAMN! Where is our STREETCAR study? Skyway extensions? Both of these would be a given to complete, yet in my blindness, I didn't see them. Did you? These people are simply without a pulse. With the amount planned on any one of these "studys" the streetcar could be up and running. The Skyway? just some piers and panels and it's done.

OCKLAWAHA

[Shwaz]

What does "study" actually mean and why does it cost $600K?

[tufsu1]

Did I miss something? DAMN! Where is our STREETCAR study? Skyway extensions? Both of these would be a given to complete, yet in my blindness, I didn't see them. Did you? These people are simply without a pulse. With the amount planned on any one of these "studys" the streetcar could be up and running. The Skyway? just some piers and panels and it's done.
OCKLAWAHA

maybe you should talk to your JTA peeps and ask them why they didn't list them.

and as for the $600k study, it would be the next step for commuter rail (beyond the $400k feasibility study)....beginning the process of getting environmental approvals for one or more routes....and don't kid yourself folks, detailed environmental and design studies will likely cost $10+ million for EACH route.

[mtraininjax]

Did I miss something? DAMN! Where is our STREETCAR study? Skyway extensions? Both of these would be a given to complete, yet in my blindness, I didn't see them. Did you? These people are simply without a pulse. With the amount planned on any one of these "studys" the streetcar could be up and running. The Skyway? just some piers and panels and it's done.

Yet racing stripes along our Skyway are free! 

I thought JTA was paying for the study out of their own funds, not funds from the Feds. I could be wrong.

[tufsu1]

just about all transportation study money comes from the State or Federal govt....but often it is part of a larger budget package for general studies versus a specific earmark