$147 million secured for Emerald Trail

[marcuscnelson]

Huge get for the Emerald Trail today. $147 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Reconnecting Communities program.

https://floridapolitics.com/archives/664703-aaron-bean-john-rutherford-secure-147m-from-joe-biden-administration-for-jacksonvilles-emerald-trail/

Funny how when it’s for something that works there’s suddenly a bunch of federal money out there.

[jaxlongtimer]

Based on the added below quote, this should hopefully enable its completion well before 2029.  Hope some of the money goes to endow a maintenance fund. 

Far better use of US DOT dollars than for U2C.  I expect more people per day on the Trail by several times any number riding U2C, for way less than half the cost and doing far more to boost the urban core.

....The trail is expected to be built by 2029.

The trail was launched with $132 million in funding from Duval County’s local option gas tax approved by City Council in 2021.

Groundwork Jacksonville CEO Kay Ehas said at the August 2021 Emerald Trail groundbreaking it was expected to cost $184.3 million, but that could increase with rising construction costs....

[thelakelander]

I expect more people per day on the Trail by several times any number riding U2C, for way less than half the cost and doing far more to boost the urban core.

This won't be hard to do. 250 people a day is such a low bar to beat. lol

[CityLife]

That is a massive amount of free money for the City. Will be curious to see how the money is phased and how much more quickly it allows the Emerald Trail to be completed. Either way, this is a very nice win!

[Captain Zissou]

I expect more people per day on the Trail by several times any number riding U2C, for way less than half the cost and doing far more to boost the urban core.

This won't be hard to do. 250 people a day is such a low bar to beat. lol

The SUP averages about 1,200 people per day.  I expect the emerald trail network to have 5-10 times that amount. 

[Charles Hunter]

Hmmm

JTA [will be] overseeing design and construction for future work on the trail.

With JTA in charge, I wonder if the trail will be designed and built to accommodate AVs"

[marcuscnelson]

That is a massive amount of free money for the City. Will be curious to see how the money is phased and how much more quickly it allows the Emerald Trail to be completed. Either way, this is a very nice win!

I wouldn’t call it free money. City Council (wisely) made a major downpayment on the Emerald Trail three years ago and the federal government thanks to our legislative delegation recognizes its value. Hopefully we act quickly to sign a grant agreement and progress segments now.

Hmmm

JTA [will be] overseeing design and construction for future work on the trail.

With JTA in charge, I wonder if the trail will be designed and built to accommodate AVs"

Haha, don’t think there’s enough right of way to make that work, or else I’d be worried.

[CityLife]

That is a massive amount of free money for the City. Will be curious to see how the money is phased and how much more quickly it allows the Emerald Trail to be completed. Either way, this is a very nice win!

I wouldn’t call it free money. City Council (wisely) made a major downpayment on the Emerald Trail three years ago and the federal government thanks to our legislative delegation recognizes its value. Hopefully we act quickly to sign a grant agreement and progress segments now.

Looking at the term too literally. I always call federal grant funding that would otherwise be given elsewhere "free money" at the local level. If these Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods grant dollars weren't given to Jax, they would be used elsewhere in the US with no value provided to the residents of Jacksonville. In that sense, they are free money for the City and its residents. Especially when you consider that they may free up some local dollars that would have otherwise been spent on the project and/or enable the project to get completed much earlier than without it.

This isn't just Jax's pro rata share of federal dollars that have to go to Jax either, like say the CDBG program. These are dollars that don't have to be spent anywhere close to Jacksonville. That makes it in even bigger win for me. 

[thelakelander]

We will need both the local allocated funding and this grant funding to get the entire trail network built. Very happy to see such a lump sum of federal infrastructure money coming to assist in this massive endeavor.

[fieldafm]

I'm happily surprised this got the award that it did, as the original application didn't seem entirely strong for this particular program.   

Give credit to where its due.  Mayor Deegan personally lobbied Peter Buttigieg for the Emerald Trail funding. Between her personal touch, and Bean and Rutherford's work in Congress... this is a really big deal, and all parties deserve a lot of thanks.

The last few mayors haven't been much to write home about.  Deegan deserves a pat on the back at least, for this one.

[thelakelander]

The press release:

https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/emerald-trail-awarded-147-million-federal-grant/

[Tacachale]

A lot of work by a lot of folks made this happen. Couldn’t be prouder of the mayor and all my colleagues who brought it home!

[jaxlongtimer]

A lot of work by a lot of folks made this happen. Couldn’t be prouder of the mayor and all my colleagues who brought it home!

Hats off mainly to Groundwork Jacksonville and Mayor Deegan.  Correct me if I am wrong, but JTA's involvement only came about when the City Council redirected part of the gas tax to the Emerald Trail and funneled it through JTA for technical/legal reasons.  While it is great JTA supports the project, it would seem they are getting something of a free ride (no pun intended  ) taking this much credit for the Trail.  Maybe they are anticipating the fallout from the U2C and looking at an offset by associating with the Trail.  LOL.

[Lunican]

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2024/03/14/secretary-of-transportation-buttigieg-talks-about-jacksonvilles-emerald-trail-in-exclusive-interview/

[jaxlongtimer]

From A. G. Gancarski at Florida Politics, interesting info below on this win:

Aaron Bean stole her thunder earlier this week, but Jacksonville's Mayor had a press release Wednesday with more context.

Days after a Northeast Florida member of Congress announced that Jacksonville’s Emerald Trail was in line for $147 million in federal money, Mayor Donna Deegan offered a belated promotion of the good news.

“This is the result of fantastic collaboration with our partners JTA and Groundwork Jacksonville, the relationships we’ve built with the Joe Biden Administration, and the experienced team we hired to bring more federal tax dollars home. I’m grateful to President Biden for investing in cities and to our federal representatives for securing this critical funding,” Deegan said in a social media post.

The release from the Deegan administration, in contrast to that from U.S. Rep. Aaron Bean, paints the Mayor’s Office as key to securing this money, and suggests that the oft-criticized arrangement with Langton Consulting, a political backer that got the federal lobbying contract, has borne fruit.

It also suggests that the announcement was intended to wait until the U.S. Department of Transportation announced a tranche of 132 projects getting funding on Wednesday, a read confirmed by a spokesperson for the Mayor noting an embargo was in place, one Bean presumably breached.

“In September 2023, JTA and Groundwork submitted a Neighborhood Access & Equity Program Grant from the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) to fund the construction of the five remaining trail segments under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the City, Groundwork, and JTA,” the Deegan release said.

“Mayor Donna Deegan, JTA CEO Nat Ford, and Groundwork CEO Kay Ehas traveled to Washington DC in November to demonstrate Jacksonville’s resolute commitment to bettering its communities. The group spoke with Reps. John Rutherford and Aaron Bean, as well as staff of Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, and other government officials about the Emerald Trail.”

Ford and Ehas offered quotes affirming the Mayor’s Office’s role in securing the money.

“Thank you to Mayor Deegan and our partners with Groundwork Jacksonville for your support, and to the communities of Jacksonville who entrust us to compete fiercely and continually for federal funding that is so important to improving the mobility infrastructure of our city,” Ford said.

“This $147 million grant, along with over $180 million in highly competitive federal grants awarded to the JTA since 2016, reflects the U.S. Department of Transportation’s confidence in the JTA and the City of Jacksonville’s ability to deliver complex infrastructure projects. This funding will accelerate the completion of these five segments of the Emerald Trail ahead of schedule, allowing our citizens to enjoy enhanced mobility and green spaces much sooner than anticipated.”

“We are ecstatic to have secured this funding for the Emerald Trail and are so appreciative of our partners, the City of Jacksonville and JTA,” Ehas added...

https://floridapolitics.com/archives/664992-emerald-deegan/