In a city where traffic jams have gotten worse over time, the elevated ramps connecting the Hart Bridge to downtown are a cruising throwback to a past era, as if that stretch of roadway would forever be 1967, the year the bridge opened.
Our Florida Times-Union news partner reports that free-flowing ride will change after the city moves ahead in 2019 with a $37.5 million project that will demolish a segment of the elevated ramp where it runs past the sports complex, bringing traffic down to ground-level at Bay Street so city-owned land along the riverfront will be opened up for potentially skyline-changing redevelopment.
In a recent application for federal assistance, the city portrayed removing that part of the elevated road as a catalyst for an economic bonanza as Jaguars owner Shad Khan advances his $2.5 billion vision for a brand-new urban neighborhood next to TIAA Bank Field and on parts of Metropolitan Park and The Shipyards.
Jacksonville’s checkered history with such grand plans shows those kinds of massive development plans don’t always materialize. Whatever comes of Khan’s ideas, the demolition of the Hart Bridge ramp will permanently change how people drive in and out of downtown when using the Hart Bridge.
Drivers will face some detour-related delays during construction, which would start sometime after summer 2019. When the revamp is finished in 2021, drivers will encounter a slower speed limit and new traffic lights.
“The reality is I’m a little concerned about it,” said City Councilman Scott Wilson, whose Southside district has its share of residents who drive the Hart Bridge’s elevated ramps into downtown. “So far I really lean on the professional advice of those who do this for a living, and they feel the impact will be minimal.”
He said some unknowns remain, mainly about the detour route.
“I realize it [the demolition] is going to happen, so I want to work with the city and state to ensure the impacts that drivers see and feel are as easy as possible to deal with,” he said.
So far, neither the city’s public works department nor the state Department of Transportation has conducted a citywide public meeting for residents to give their views on the proposal, which has undergone changes since Mayor Lenny Curry first popped the idea in November 2016.
The Hart Bridge and its ramps are owned by the state Department of Transportation, whose public involvement handbook stresses the importance of giving residents a chance to participate as a project goes from concept to ground-breaking.
Jim Knight, urban transportation development manager for the department in Jacksonville, said the state and city will work together to have a public meeting that shows the plan and invites public feedback.
“We try to always seek public input to help in our decision-making,” he said this week. “We would definitely want to make sure that occurs.”
He said the state has not made a final decision on the concept, but the transportation department has been working with the city to create an outcome that avoids a “significant impact” on drivers.
“The trip obviously isn’t as good as being on that elevated bridge, but it looks like they’ve achieved a pretty high-quality trip through there,” Knight said.
