by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
With $25 million either in hand or on the way, the Jacksonville Transportation Authority no longer has to speak hypothetically about funding for a planned transportation center in LaVilla.
JTA spokesperson Mike Miller said plans for the $86 million Multi Modal Transportation Center were taking significant steps forward. He said about $25 million in state and federal money has been set aside for the project, and said necessary regional partnerships are taking shape.
The transportation center would be the centerpiece of a downtown transportation network. The plan brings together all of Jacksonville’s transportation elements to allow commuters to move quickly and cheaply throughout the City.
“It’s a very efficient way to bring a number of transportation modes together,” said Miller.
The center would also bring retail and parking to downtown’s slow developing west end. The once-vibrant LaVilla neighborhood sits between downtown and Riverside. The transportation center is viewed as a possible boost to the neighborhood’s revitalization.
Next to raising money, Miller said JTA has focused first on cultivating the partnerships needed for a project of the transportation center’s size and scope. A Monday update meeting in Council member Elaine Brown’s City Hall office brought together representatives from the mayor’s office, state officials, property owners, Brown and Council member Reggie Fullwood.
Next JTA hopes to engage Northeast Florida’s lawmakers. Federal funds are being counted on to pay 80 percent of the center’s cost, leaving the state and City to pay the rest. Most of the money currently pledged to the project comes from the federal government, including a $1 million outlay from a 2004 transportation bill.
Brown, one of the project’s key backers, has told Mayor John Peyton that the City could pay its share by contributing land and investing in infrastructure, including a parking garage.
JTA CEO Mike Blaylock told Peyton in a letter that owning the land was important to convince federal funding agents that the City is serious about the project.
The project’s early development stalled a bit due to its planned connection to a new convention center. Peyton has said a new convention center isn’t a priority.
But the transportation center is now viewed as a first step with a decision on a convention center to come later.
Miller said the transportation center fits in well with Peyton’s recently-discovered plans to overhaul downtown. Peyton’s concept would make increased use of the Skyway to bring together the north and south banks of downtown.
Peyton’s plan would also limit car traffic on the Main Street Bridge. That would send more commuters over the Acosta Bridge and toward the transportation center, said Miller.