by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
When the Florida Department of Transportation concludes a traffic study of the Mathews Bridge and Arlington Expressway next year, suggestions for costly improvements will probably follow.
According to City Council member Lake Ray, who requested the Project Development and Environmental study over four years ago, recommendations to expand the bridge to from four to eight lanes may be made.
The $4 million study, now six months underway, was partially funded by the Metropolitan Planning Organization and Better Jacksonville Plan dollars.
“Expanding the Mathews Bridge is probably going to be the best way to meet traffic demands and improve circulation and safety in that area,” said Ray.
According to a recent figures, an average of 78,500 vehicles travel the bridge daily.
Budgeted at upwards of $250 million, Ray said expansion efforts would require two phases.
“What would happen is we would first construct a new four-lane bridge to serve as a complement to the current bridge. That’s the concept,” he said. “We would then move forward in rehabilitating and improving the old bridge.”
Ray said partial funding would come from State and, possibly, federal programs.
“These are their recommendations, so they would be supportive of making these improvements,” he said. “To be on the safe side, I’d say it would take at least three years to complete.”
Allowing for easy access on and off the bridge, the six-mile stretch of Arlington Expressway from Southside Boulevard to Liberty Street would be expanded from four to six lanes.
Service road improvements are also being discussed.
“The specifics on that part of the project, including exactly what kind of construction would be required, are still being worked though,” he said. “Those kinds of things will need to be better defined before we can properly perform a cost analysis.”
Ray said the FDOT is also determining whether to recommend making further alterations to the Arlington Expressway from Arlington Road to Regency Square Mall.
“One of the major problems now is that you can’t change directions once you’re on there,” he said. “That’s about two miles and it’s killing the commercial businesses along that road. It’s keeping the area from being properly revitalized.”
Ray said the PD&E study, which has been coordinated with existing projects, including the City’s Sports Complex and various roadway improvement projects, will be completed by Summer 2005.
“From today, everything could be theoretically finished within eight to 10 years,” said Ray.