A $5.1 million infrastructure project for the Northside was approved by the Jacksonville International Airport Community Redevelopment Area Board on Tuesday.
The project aims to help ease traffic flow along Armsdale Road, Duval Road, and Dunn Avenue near the airport — an area that has seen high growth in recent years.
The project, scheduled to begin this year, includes new sidewalks along Armsdale and Duval roads, signal improvements, curb improvements and storm water management.
Bill Joyce, operations director with the city’s Public Works Department, presented the plans to the CRA board.
He said the improvements will be broken down into phases, beginning this year, and hopefully wrapping up in 2018.
Phase one includes 1,600 feet of sidewalk along Armsdale Road, along with stormwater management and infrastructure enhancements. Cost is estimated at $1.1 million.
The second phase includes another 2,000 feet of sidewalk along Armsdale, costing about $452,000.
Phase three continues sidewalk construction at about $500,000.
The final phases would include intersection improvements at Dunn Avenue and Armsdale, as well as curb improvements there. It includes additional sidewalk construction along Duval Road.
The estimated cost of the project is $5.1 million, although that could change during the bidding and design process.
“Once the funding is allocated, we would go through the design, engineering and bidding phase,” Joyce said. “Even so, we’re treating this as one big project.”
For budgetary reasons, costs will be split between the current fiscal year and the next.
Joyce estimates $1.8 million would be used to begin the project this year.
The remaining $3.3 million would need to be approved when City Council begins crafting the 2018-2019 budget.
With state lawmakers in Tallahassee again debating the need for Community Redevelopment Areas, several council members voiced their support for CRAs.
“There’s a real need for CRAs,” said Council member Reggie Brown, who represents District 10. “Projects like this show that it’s very clear every district needs a CRA.”
“If we didn’t have the CRA, we wouldn’t have this project,” added District 3 Council member Aaron Bowman.
Vice Chair Reggie Gaffney, who represents District 7 where the project would take place, said it is a perfect example of what the CRAs are intended to do — listen to constituents and build projects to satisfy their needs.
“About four months ago, I had a community meeting with about 150 people who praised the economic development in the area, but were concerned with the lack of projects in their neighborhoods,” said Gaffney a Democrat. “This is a win for everybody.”
He says projects like this one would never see the light of day, if it weren’t for the CRA.
“This project, in my lifetime would probably never have gotten done,” he added. “It allows us to take those dollars that are designated for those areas, and focus on what the constituents need.”
He says the additional sidewalks and intersection improvements will also promote more residential development.
Although there were some concerns about the project not going far enough, council members voted 16-0 to approve it.
The project will now begin the design and bidding process, that Joyce estimates will take a few months to complete.
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