JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Crumbling roadways, unsafe pedestrian crossings, and dim lighting. We first told you Wednesday about Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry's proposal to double Duval County's gas tax from six cents to 12 cents a gallon to pay for a long list of transportation and infrastructure projects to fix some of those problems.
Now we're breaking down where the money would be spent for road improvements, drainage mitigation, and transit projects in this four-page proposal.
“Infrastructure doesn’t renew itself," Bob Hesson said. “It starts degrading as soon as it’s finished.”
Bob Hesson lives in Duval County and noticed some issues with the roadways.
“Potholes. You see them everywhere," Hesson said. "Hopefully this will help to keep on top of the degradations that we find.”
The city council will consider a $930 million package of transportation projects. $354 million of that would go towards roadway improvements.
“One of the things we are challenged with here in Florida is pedestrian safety and making sure we have proper traffic signaling and expansion of roads in some cases," said Nathanial Ford, CEO of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority.
$4.3 million in improvements is included for the Phillips Highway Corridor. The proposed project would begin at University Boulevard and continue to Baymeadows Road. It would improve sidewalks, in addition to making the area more friendly for bicyclists and ADA compliant.
Some other possible county-wide improvements would include putting in new traffic signals, road resurfacing, and repainting pavement markings.
“The better we are able to move, the greater we can become as a city in terms of economic development, quality of life, and things of that nature," Ford said.
The proposal would also fund hundreds of millions of dollars in drainage improvements and transit projects.
“We’re in San Marco right now, and we see a whole lot of flooding," Hesson said.
Hesson knows about San Marco's flooding all too well because he's lived there for years.
“I know one guy who got flooded out of his house during Hurricane Irma believe it was," Hesson said. "There was enormous damage that was done. Many people had to restore their first stories anyway.”
$35 million in drainage improvements are proposed in the San Marco area with the goal of reducing flooding caused by heavy rainfall and high tides through a pump station.
City council will consider spending $129 million for drainage mitigation throughout Duval County.
Another $446 million would be used for transit projects, including the Skyway, which is a 2.5-mile elevated monorail system.
“With the development of communities in and around downtown Jacksonville lie Brooklyn, Springfield, Riverside, we need to have a transportation network that allows people to rapidly come into downtown," Ford said.
The gas tax money would also pay for a second St. Johns River ferry boat.
“Having a second boat gives us the opportunity to have uninterrupted service for this major thoroughfare and connector for A1A," Ford said.