by Monica Chamness
Staff Writer
The Jacksonville Transportation Authority has negotiated a deal with the Florida Department of Transportation to provide hundreds of parking spots for downtown employees and businesses.
Roughly 300 new spaces between San Marco Boulevard and Palm Avenue under the Fuller Warren Bridge on the Southbank will be paved and maintained as monthly parking by JTA. The property will be leased from FDOT for $1 a year.
“We had the opportunity to lease land under the bridge, but it was part of the City’s development of the Riverwalk,” said Marci Larson, manager of communications and marketing for JTA. “We determined that out of the land available, there would be room for parking and that people would use the parking.”
The cost of the project and its completion date have not been announced.
To correctly assess where parking is needed most, the JTA recently conducted a parking audit to make suggestions on using and marketing existing lots.
Construction on the new parking lot will not begin until the Fuller Warren Bridge is complete.
“We’re going to be done by October,” said Mike Goldman, public information manager for the Florida Department of Transportation. “We hope to open lanes in October, but the contractor probably won’t be out until 2003 because of demolition [on the old bridge].”
Monthly rental rates will be consistent with other JTA parking lots — in the low $20s to mid-$30s each month. After regular working hours, the lots may be open for other activities.
“They’re odd-shaped lots,” said Stephanie Barker of the JTA. “We’re making use of otherwise wasted space.”
As part of its downtown mobility plan, the JTA is also moving forward with its plan to add three new trolleys to its existing fleet for shuttle service to San Marco.
“Our interest study showed that more potential riders will come from San Marco,” said Larson.
The primary purpose of the San Marco route will be to get people to restaurants and shopping centers between 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Different routing paths are being considered but many details, such as how often the trolleys stop and the distance they will travel, are still being decided. Funding is coming from federal sources.
Leasing the trolleys to private customers during off-hours is a possibility as well.
Larson said its possible the service could start this fall, depending on how quickly the manufacturer can build the trolleys and how quickly JTA can work out the details of the service.
“Because we offer the service over a tight time frame, we want to offer frequency but we have to make sure operating costs [equipment, drivers] balance out,” said Larson. “We’re trying to make the service as attractive as possible so people will use it.”