by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
Before finalizing its list of priority transportation projects for Northeast Florida, representatives from the First Coast Metropolitan Planning Organization said they want to be sure they have input from everyone concerned.
After approaching the City Council in June, the MPO has now turned its focus to the Jacksonville Port Authority, Jacksonville Airport Authority and various railroads in an attempt to better understand their transportation wants.
“We’re still in the process of narrowing down our needs plan,” said MPO executive director Denise Bunnewith, “and in doing so, we felt it that it was important to involve as much of the community as possible in those discussions.
“The private sector perspective has been missing for some time.”
Needing approved by the end of the year, Bunnewith said the list of priority projects, would “consist of a prioritized listing of state highway, mass transit, aviation and enhancement projects.”
“Our needs definitely exceed the available resources so we have to be sure we spend wisely,” she said. “The more information we have, the better off we’ll be when promoting projects within our jurisdiction.”
Of the potential transportation projects included in its plan, Bunnewith said those serving the largest constituency would be pushed to the front.
“It all goes back to making sound investments with the dollars we get,” she said.
Stephen Tocknell, a senior planning project manager with Reynolds, Smith and Hills, Inc., agreed.
“When the State agrees to fund various projects, they’re going to try to identify the ones that promote economic growth and make Florida more competitive,” he said. “They’re going to invest in projects that will make significant improvements across the board, not just for one isolated area.”
MPO spokesperson Marci Larson suggested that representatives from private interest groups should meet with the MPO on a quarterly basis.
“This is only our second meeting,” said Larson Tuesday, “so we’ll need to continue our dialog while we continue to prepare ourselves.
“We’re committed to developing a plan that is comprised of all transportation aspects. When we approach the State with a list of priority projects, we want to be able say that we’ve looked at the total transportation picture first.”