Historic City News has learned that when the City Commission convenes their regular meeting next Monday, two new alternatives for traffic flow along the bayfront will be aired.
The revisions follow input from the commission at its January 24 meeting.
Commissioners at that meeting heard from historic area businesses complaining of “construction burnout” after five years of bridge restoration, and commissioners were concerned about alternatives reducing northbound traffic to one lane.
Two new alternatives focus on maintaining two northbound lanes with three southbound lanes – one dedicated to slower moving horse carriages.
The addition of a landscaped median is the singular difference in the two new alternatives.
Current bayfront traffic planning – Reconnecting the Castillo & the Bayfront – continues a 16-year effort to overcome a four-lane highway separating St. Augustine’s greatest historic assets, the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument and 1573 Town Plan National Register District.
Improvement needs were part of Mayor Greg Baker’s 1993 Vision Project, with designs developed in the mid-1990s under the Florida Greenways Program.
The current effort is supported through the federal Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks Program, a program established in 2008 “to address the challenge of increasing vehicle congestion in and around our national parks and other federal lands.”
Congress appropriated $26.9 million for the program in 2008.
A total of 80 proposals were received totaling $71.5 million, almost three times the amount available, indicating high competition for funds.
In its successful bid for $250,000 in planning funds, St. Augustine estimated a $9 million project, which would be broken into three phases of $3 million each.
Halback Design Group’s Jeremy Marquis says St. Augustine has its foot in the door with the design stage funding, giving it a good opportunity to capture additional grants.
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