After weeks of fine tuning, a list of projects that could be funded by extending the 6-cent gas tax another 20 years is just about complete.
And that means another contentious debate at City Council isn’t far behind.
City Public Works and Jacksonville Transportation Authority officials have met several times in recent weeks to prioritize a list of projects, with the latest Thursday coming in at 30 projects for about $236 million.
One of the biggest changes in the latest list, compared to the one in late March, is a substantial priority jump for a $5 million Parramore Road extension. It went from being No. 16 — on the fringe of being funded — to No. 4.
Council member Jim Love has advocated for the project for months, telling others that if the West Jacksonville road is extended, Costco Wholesale Corp. has committed to building a store.
If Parramore is built, Costco will come,” he said after Thursday’s meeting.
Love said he was pleased with the bump and the commitment could mean 250 jobs and a boost in taxes from people on the Westside and Clay County shopping there.
“That’s a steady stream of money and a steady stream of jobs,” he said. “It really is the right thing to do.”
Council President Bill Gulliford called the project a “double whammy” of road-building and economic development.
The overall list Thursday is not too far off from one submitted March 21. That list had 31 projects worth $253 million.
But, not all projects will be done — extending the gas tax would mean about $100 million in bonds, which would cover just about the first 14 projects on the latest list.
Much of the list remains relatively the same. The top project is still a $600,000 improvement at Old St. Augustine and Greenland roads and the most expensive is still the $16.7 million Kernan Boulevard improvements from Atlantic Boulevard to McCormick Road.
Dropping below the $100 million mark are countywide transit hub improvements of $4 million, a $4 million improvement to Hartley Road and a $4.1 million portion of Collins Road improvements.
Gulliford has pushed for extending the tax sooner rather than later and filed the legislation in December. Since then, it has been deferred at the council committee level.
The construction work for the road projects would help unskilled workers find jobs, he said, and there should be a push to accomplish the projects while interest rates and materials and labor prices are still relatively low.
“We need to put some people to work,” Gulliford said.
He will roll the project list and changes to the interlocal agreement into a substitute measure to introduce to council in the coming weeks.
The push will still divvy the tax between the city, which will get 1 cent, and the transportation authority, which will receive the remaining 5 cents for road projects.
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