Monroe Street Closure On The Brink Of Happening

[tufsu1]

I recommend another walking tour, this time not at the courthouse but along and across a busy divided highway with each of them required to make a couple of mad dashes across all lanes during rush hour traffic. Monroe Street closed, with a peaceful pedestrian mall, will look good after that experience.

now that is a good idea!

[Tacachale]

When will they be voting on this?

[Planning Guy]

Today the Finance Committee of the City Council turned down the request to close Monroe Street (4-2). Those voting against were Bishop, Crescimbini, Gulliford and Yarborough. Those voting in favor of the closure were Greg Anderson and Richard Clark. I would suggest calls be made.

[Captain Zissou]

I don't know that this matters to the council, but this is how I see it.  Imagine someone who visits Jax once the decision is made and either the road or park is completed.  Lets imagine they drove in from Orlando for an office meeting in the AT&T building.  They drive in, park on Julia street, go to their meeting, get lunch and go back to Orlando.  No, they won't remember the 30 seconds they saved by driving on the rebuilt Monroe street, but they would definitely remember grabbing a bite to eat on our courthouse plaza at one of the food trucks while watching a man play the saxophone and a group of kids splash in the fountain.  I imagine they would remember Jax fondly for quite some time.

[dougskiles]

Today the Finance Committee of the City Council turned down the request to close Monroe Street (4-2). Those voting against were Bishop, Crescimbini, Gulliford and Yarborough. Those voting in favor of the closure were Greg Anderson and Richard Clark. I would suggest calls be made.

Does that mean the bill is done?  Can it still go to full council for vote?

[thelakelander]

I don't know that this matters to the council, but this is how I see it.  Imagine someone who visits Jax once the decision is made and either the road or park is completed.  Lets imagine they drove in from Orlando for an office meeting in the AT&T building.  They drive in, park on Julia street, go to their meeting, get lunch and go back to Orlando.  No, they won't remember the 30 seconds they saved by driving on the rebuilt Monroe street, but they would definitely remember grabbing a bite to eat on our courthouse plaza at one of the food trucks while watching a man play the saxophone and a group of kids splash in the fountain.  I imagine they would remember Jax fondly for quite some time.

The problem would be that they wouldn't save time on a new street named Monroe.  It would add a couple of minutes more to their drive since Forsyth is the faster and more direct route to all the parking facilities.

[thelakelander]

@Lake - can you overlay Monroe back inot the aerial photo. It would be interesting to see just how close Monroe and Adams will really be.

I just noticed this request.  I'll do this and upload it later today.

[thelakelander]

Does that mean the bill is done?  Can it still go to full council for vote?

I'm no expert at what Council can and cannot do, this shouldn't mean the bill is done.  Also, from looking at the votes of the Finance Committee, only one of the previous list of undecided members to vote in favor of building a new road was Guilliford.  The other three were always in favor of spending your tax dollars in a fiscally irresponsible manner.

The following list of City Council Representatives have not rendered an opinion. If we do our part by contacting them via email, phone or personal visit, it may be enough to finally get something positive implemented in this distressed area of downtown.

 
•             District 9 Warren Jones  630-1395       WAJones@coj.net
 
•             District 8 E. Denise Lee  630-1385       EDLee@coj.net
 
•             District 12 Doyle Carter  630-1380       doylec@coj.net
 
•             District 10 Reggie Brown  630-1684      RBrown@coj.net
 
•             District 13 Bill Guilliford  630-1397        Gulliford@coj.net
 
•             At Large Stephen Joost  630-1396       Joost@coj.net
 
•             At Large Kimberly Daniels  630-1393     KimDaniels@coj.net

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

I don't know that this matters to the council, but this is how I see it.  Imagine someone who visits Jax once the decision is made and either the road or park is completed.  Lets imagine they drove in from Orlando for an office meeting in the AT&T building.  They drive in, park on Julia street, go to their meeting, get lunch and go back to Orlando.  No, they won't remember the 30 seconds they saved by driving on the rebuilt Monroe street, but they would definitely remember grabbing a bite to eat on our courthouse plaza at one of the food trucks while watching a man play the saxophone and a group of kids splash in the fountain.  I imagine they would remember Jax fondly for quite some time.

Switch Orlando with...... well, say anyone heading SB95  --  there is NO MONROE ST EXIT!  Gateway to the city?  Sure, only if you're heading north.

[JeffreyS]

The request should not be called closing Monroe because there is not a road there now.  This is a decision to build or not build a new road.

[Tacachale]

^Yeah, that would be a better way to frame the argument.

[thelakelander]

@Lake - can you overlay Monroe back inot the aerial photo. It would be interesting to see just how close Monroe and Adams will really be.

I just noticed this request.  I'll do this and upload it later today.

I didn't spend too much time on this, so graphically there's room for a lot of improvement.  However, it does provide a visual glimpse into these two options:

Option 1: $800,000 for a road between the courthouse entry and the courthouse parking garage.


Option 2: Saving $800,000 by laying sod down with the existing courthouse budget.

[thelakelander]

Does that mean the bill is done?  Can it still go to full council for vote?

I heard that this goes to full council this Tuesday.  This week is a great time to contact the council to persuade them to do the right thing, which is to not spend $800,000 on something that has been proven to cause more harm than good.

[tufsu1]

this Tuesday as in today...or next week?

[thelakelander]

next week.