Staff Writer
The Jacksonville Transportation Authority board of directors approved the design contract for the initial phase of its Bus Rapid Transit system Thursday at its monthly board meeting.
National architecture, engineering and consulting firm HDR Inc., with a local office in Jacksonville, was awarded the contract for close to $768,000 to begin work on the Downtown phase of the overall transportation project.
The project will include intersection improvements, dedicated bus lanes, branded buses, routes with 10-minute wait intervals at peak times and 15-minute wait intervals in nonpeak times, signalization prioritization for buses, new stations and streetscape improvements, among other enhancements.
All streetscape enhancements in the Downtown area for Phase I will comply with standards set by the Downtown Development Review Board.
The Bus Rapid Transit Program is designed to make it easier for buses to avoid congestion and save time for passengers.
Slated for completion in December 2012, the Downtown phase of the Bus Rapid Transit program is the first of five parts of the project throughout the city. Similar connecting projects will follow in the North corridor near Springfield (December 2013), Southeast employment corridors (December 2014), Southwest corridor (December 2015) and East corridor (December 2016).
Initial workshops throughout the region aimed to gauge public interest have varied, said JTA planning manager Suraya Teeple, with older neighborhoods tending to be more receptive to the redevelopment.
The Downtown portion of the project will cost around $13 million, but $9.3 million would come from the Federal Transit Administration “Small Starts” grants for capital costs associated with new fixed guideway systems, extensions and bus corridor improvements.
While the contract was approved by the JTA board of officials, it must also be approved by the Federal Transit Administration.
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