JTA looking at rail possibilities that stretch through region (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal) — An ambitious project could be getting larger as local transportation officials assess the viability and possibilities of rail connecting downtown Jacksonville to St. Augustine.
“We’re going to have some good discussions with the railroad folks as well that I’m looking forward to, but yes, we’re early on, but we’re moving forward, and not just to St. Augustine,” William Joyce, construction and capital projects officer for JTA, said recently. “I think we’re thinking beyond as well, maybe to the airport, Amtrak, things like that.”
With a decade of upcoming construction planned along the Interstate 95 corridor — with the dramatic and continual influx of new residents — there’s a desire to take some of the congestion pressure off the interstate.
But that doesn’t mean city officials want Jacksonville to foot the bill for something that might benefit St. Johns County more than Duval.
“Obviously, more intercity rail would be huge, to be able to connect up with Brightline in Orlando, and eventually the rest of the Brightline network, would be awesome,” City Councilman Jimmy Peluso said.
With the present path, though, he questions where the value can be found for Jacksonville residents.
“From the perspective of, hey, are we just shuttling people in and out of our city, out of Duval County, so they can live in other counties?” Peluso said. “And if that’s the case then … I’m less enthused, especially of putting city money into it, than I might have been before.
“Because if the goal is now to basically help St. Johns County (residents) get to their jobs in Jacksonville, that certainly doesn’t make me feel a lot better.”
The proposed route currently extends from LaVilla, where the Prime Osborne Conference Center would be turned into a train station, down to King Street in St. Augustine. A JTA study indicates the length of that journey would be 48 minutes, which can be faster than by car during peak times of day.
Florida East Coast Railway owns the track and right-of-way for the corridor for commuter rail. The company did not respond to a request for comment. There’s 100 feet of right-of-way, which JTA states is wide enough for four track lines and can accommodate commuter rail alongside present freight traffic.
Brightline, which runs the new rail service from Orlando to South Florida, owns the passenger rail rights for the corridor and is interested in the concept.
“That’s actually one of my projects under MobilityWorks 2.0, to look at what could occur with commuter rail or regional rail service,” said Greer Johnson Gillis, chief infrastructure and development officer for JTA. “But we know that is not our decision. This has got to be a partnership with not only the railroads, but the City of Jacksonville and even the counties.
“So, we’ve done some early planning work to really look at the viability of the center line from the city of Jacksonville to St. Augustine. But we still have some more studying, some more work to do.”