Bicyclists and others, you aren't the only ones suffering from the design of this project.
This project is 0.9 miles and costing, depending on who you ask, between $9 and $13 million. But, not one penny was spent on even a sliver of right of way acquisition. It is basically a maintenance project replacing a 70 to 80+ year old road bed (there is still the original concrete under the asphalt plus two to three feet of swamp mud, I am told) that FDOT just got tired of throwing money at.
In some spots. lanes will go from 10 to 11 feet where they have enough existing ROW but they will still be below the usual 12 foot standard. Also, they are not addressing the poor turning radii at the corners of Stockton, King and McDuff, all lighted intersections with heavy truck traffic. Nor, are they adding a westbound turn lane to turn south onto McDuff. Expect to find a one lane road when trains block turning traffic onto McDuff. In the end, a very big missed opportunity by FDOT to make this significant (the only east-west corridor from Downtown Jax other than I-10) road section more functional and supportive of economic development in the Northwest Quadrant.
It's unlikely such short comings would be tolerated for a State and Federal (Beaver Street is also US 90) highway like this if it were in any other part of town. History shows FDOT has certainly spent dollars on much more expensive right of ways in the region to fix similar problems. By example, for long timers, Riverside Avenue between the Acosta and Fuller Warren bridges used to be very similar to Beaver Street, a narrow 4 lane road lined with aged industrial buildings. FDOT bought up whole city blocks because many were multi-story buildings (up to 8 to 10 stories high) built to the edge of the right of way and that was the only option. Compare Riverside Avenue, today, with Beaver Street and you get the idea.
Lack of vision, master planning and inappropriate penny pinching like this is what holds much of our City back.
