Monroe Street Closure On The Brink Of Happening

[Jason]

Imagine how great that lawn would look packed with thousands of people as a new mayor gives his/her innagural speach, or as a campaining presidential candidate woos his local followers from atop the courthouse steps....

:::smack:::  Wake up Jason, the cars are about to run you over!

[jcjohnpaint]

the more I look at the schematics the more funny this gets.  You step of the bottom step right into traffic.  You have these two strange triangle patches of grass.  Any council members who vote to have the street reopened are STUPID plain and simple.... and we pay for this joke! 

[Charles Hunter]

I know it was a quick graphic job, but I thought the new street would be closer to Adams?
I will be contacting my Council rep - even though he has already voted for this stupidity.

[thelakelander]

I took the original plan shown here:



This second plan was drawn up by Ted Pappas.  When it comes to urban planning in Jax, nothing surprises me anymore but I just assumed no one would endorse this pedestrian safety hazard:

[tufsu1]

there are 2 different concepts out there....one that is close to Adams (and basically creates a reverse boulevard)...the olther option is to build the road close to the building, allowing room for a small park/plaza between the streets

[Miss Fixit]

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

Lake, who is supporting rerouting and reconstructing Monroe Street?  What is Johnny Gaffney's position?

[thelakelander]

I don't know the full list but Redman, Boyer, Anderson, Clark, Love and Lumb are among the supporters while Bishop, Crescimbeni, Yarborough and Guiliford are a few who favor squeezing a new street into the space. 

[Ocklawaha]

If any of you are expecting Jacksonville to make the right decision on this, then you can probably guess what is about to happen.

'Jacksonville, metal shed capital of the world.'

OCKLAWAHA

[Charles Hunter]

I must have been remembering the Pappas version.  I do remember the original plan, too.  Both are dumb.

[thelakelander]

Monroe Street closure votes from the June 28, 2011 meeting.  Those in bold are still serving on the Council.

AYES - Brown, Fussell, Hyde, Johnson, Redman, Webb, ( 6 )
 
NAYS -Bishop, Brown, Carter, Clark, Corrigan, Crescimbeni, Gaffney, Holt, Jones, Joost, Shad, Yarborough, ( 12 )

[thelakelander]

Speaking of Monroe Street....

Street around new Duval Courthouse has safety questions

A rebuilt Monroe Street near the new Duval County Courthouse may not be as safe and pedestrian-friendly as supporters of the road project want, a city employee conceded Tuesday.

“It will be as safe as we can make it,” courthouse project manager Dave Schneider told members of the City Council’s Finance Committee who questioned him about the road’s design.

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2011-10-18/story/street-around-new-duval-courthouse-has-safety-questions

[thelakelander]

Very interesting.  Back in February, I said rebuilding Monroe Street would cost closer to $1 million or more and a few council members believed my numbers were too high (although I happen to work in a transportation planning firm and have access to general roadway cost estimates).  In an ironic twist of fate, it looks like my numbers are more accurate than the budgeted $800,000 figure.  From the TU article:

Schneider was quizzed about missed opportunities to make the project pedestrian-friendly, for example by marking crosswalk-like areas.

“Right now, there’s no special signage or markings” Schneider said. “We could add that. … It’s a good idea.”

The road could use “traffic-calming” features that would cost a little more, he said, but they aren’t in the design.

There’s no reason not to have that, Councilman Bill Bishop said.

A road consists of more than asphalt lanes, especially one in an area with significant pedestrian traffic.  Anyone who has spent anytime in an urban area knows this.  Why this wasn't factored into that $800,000 budget is pretty shocking.  Just watch the costs balloon when they add in the extra traffic calming features such as signals, crosswalk paving patterns, sidewalks, signage, historic light posts, etc.  I guess I'm not too crazy after all.

[thelakelander]

Ron Littlepage: A Finance Committee temper tantrum

A majority of the City Council's Finance Committee is determined to do something really dumb.

Councilwoman Lori Boyer has offered a reasonable solution to the controversy over whether to rebuild Monroe Street so that it jogs around the new county courthouse, potentially creating a pedestrian nightmare.

She wants to delay spending the $700,000 it will cost to rebuild the road until after the courthouse opens to better gauge the traffic patterns.

Nope. Four Finance Committee members, led by Bill Bishop, voted against Boyer's proposal this morning. Only Richard Clark and Greg Anderson supported it.

The four gave several reasons, but there was an interesting undercurrent. They don't like the courthouse — who does? — and they think the judiciary has been "thumbing its nose" at the council's wishes, and they aren't going to take it anymore.

That's a heck of a reason to build a road that will have pedestrians negotiating Adams Street and Monroe Street back-to-back before they can reach the new courthouse.

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/406107/ron-littlepage/2011-10-18/finance-committee-temper-tantrum

[ProjectMaximus]

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.

I like your vivid narrative but remember this is more for us citizens of Jacksonville than outsiders. Just sayin...but fwiw, I, living in Jax would still definitely prefer what you described.

[ProjectMaximus]

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:

I'm not sure how you can improve on a giant Kermit the Frog carrying a messenger bag and waving to me.