Exh 2AAGENDA ITEM #2A
s~a®si NOVEMBEI212, 2fl01
First C®ast IVI~® T® .4d®pt
Balanced Needs Plan
The First Coast Meetnpolitan Planning
Organization (FCMPO) is expected to adopt a
2025 Tmnsporcatior. Needs Plan this month.
This lice of needed transportation projects will
be a well balanced mix of roadway and transit
projects, with future recommendations Eoc bicy-
cle and pedestrian mobility as well. This "Needs
Plan" represents the projects that will be needed
between now and the year 2025 to ensure
we are able to travel in and around ehe greater
Jacksonville area efficiently and safely.
The FCMPO is expected to cake this issue up at
the regulazly scheduled November meeting. Bur
before they rake action they wznt to hear what
the citizens think of this plan. Back in September
the FCMPO sponsored a week's worth of public
workshops where sev<_ral different Needs Plan
alternatives were preserved. One alternative
focused on making madway improvements, the
other on making transit improvements. Fnpue
received From ehese meetings helped shape the
balanced plan now being presented.
The FCMPO is once again sporsocing a series of
public workshops xo be held ar various locatiors
around me greater Jacksonville area. Some of the
topics which will be discussed include the rec-
ommended 2025 Needs Plan, project costs, air
quality conformity, Future transportation rev-
enue, and the developmenv of ehe drafr 2025
Cost Feasible Plart. The meetings will be held
the week of November 5th. Please make plans co
join ehe FCMPO at one of these locations and
help shape Jacksonville's future.
S[: johns Connry
Momtiay, November.5, 2001
6:OO:p.m. - Bartram Trul Br:.ach Iabrary
60 Davis Pond $lvd. - Ftuic Cove
287-4929.
Urban Core
' Tuesday, November 6y 2001
12:00 p.m. -.Mary L. Singietpn.:
Senior Center cafeteria
150 East First Street
630-0995
r3trvas county
Tuesday, November 6, 2001
6:00 p.m. -Renaissance Room
(s~itst Floorof City Flall) - -
1I7 PT. Duval Szreec -
630-2555
Clay Counry..
°~edhesday, November 7, 2W1
C>:30 _^.~.m. -Orange Purk Town $alf
2042 Pazk Avenue
278-3028.
acksoravifde ~eacl:es
'rcospotisored by Plorida CommuniryCollege
o:`Jacksonville
"x!mrsday, November 8,.2001
6:00 g. m -. FCCJ South Campus
1902 Beach Boulevard... -
"PAiison tearer -Room M-1T40
646-2111
~Il7s$ .~OYV Nluc3s 1Po/01f Ali This Cost?
Reccn[1y;. work was initiated on estimating a
cost to imptemeat each of the projects in the
draft Nerds Plan. Some costs will include the
consuncrion of roadways and others wilt be for
the purchase of new buses and the operation o£
mew transit routes. The previous long range plan
iden¢ifled over ~i2.6 billion in needed project
through the year 2020.
~&i~ X081 ~nOW`~
Did you know thae ehe purchase of right-of-way
For roadway widening and new roadway con-
se:uction Frequently is ehe single highest cost of
a p:ejecd In many cases, right-of--way costs
between 125°lo and ' S0% of the construction
cost. In orh¢r words, iE it costs $i million to
build ome mile of a new two lane road, the righc-
of-way mold be expected eo cost between .$1.25
and $1.50 million.
AGENIDA dTENL #2A
D[OVEMBER 12, 2001
TrartsportatBan i2evenue
Dv you wonder how rve are going to pay
for the billions of dollars worth in needed
cransporcarion projects? Each time you
purchase fuel for your car you pay gas
taxes. That's right, Uncle Sam collects
18.4 cents per gallon. The Scare of Florida
collects another 20.6 cents per gallon.
That is a total of 39 cents per gallon. In
addition co State and Federal gasoline
taxes, there are several local gas taxes in
place, Duval, Sc. Johns, and Clay Counties
each collect 6 cents of Local Option Gas
Tax. Clay County collects an additional
1 cent called the Ninth-Cent Gas Tax.
Duval County voters enacted a half ten[
sales tax a number of years ago that was used
exclusively for roadway and bridge projects.
In September of 2000, a second hall cent
sales tax was approved by voters to fund the
"Better Jacksonville Plan." Half of the
revenue generated by this tax is directed
towards transportation projects and half
the funds are used for quaIiry-vf--life projects
and vettical building improvements.
All of these funding sources have been fore-
casted out m the year 2025 and it is esti-
mated that .~1.3 billion dollars maybe avail-
able co implement the Balanced Needs Plan.
1!lATS Air tpeea6aty Con€orenity
Duval County has been designated an air
quality maintenance area by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
(USEPA). The USEPA has established a
set of air quality "budgets" for emissions
of volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
and nitrous oxides (NOx) within Duval
County These badgers represent a set
of minimum air quality standards co be
maintained within Duval County. An
inability to achieve chose minimum stan-
dazds as parr of the adopted 2025 long-
range cransporcarion plan would place
Federal funding of transportation projects
for the greater Jacksonville area in jeopardy.
Computerized tmvel simulation models
have been updated as part of this study to
estimate future traffic and transit ridership
patterns. Outputs from these models are
also being used to estimate mobite source
emissions resuking from these travel pat-
terns, The 2025 tong-range cranspoaation
plan adoped by the Fi.rsr Coast MPO in
December must conform to these emissions
standazds. Every effort is being made co pro-
duce abalanced, multi-modal transpo¢atior,
plan that provides for mobility choices and
improved air quafity for the azeas citizens.
®eve9openent ofi the (,ost
Feas6isle Phan
So what is the next step% Cose eseimaus
are now being prepared for each of the
projects in the recommended 2025 ':Needs
Plan to start development of the Cost
Feasible Plan. In the simpiesc terms, the
available revenue will be matched to the
projetts until the money is gone. Think
of it as a budget. The Noeds Plan is the
"wish list" and there is only so much
money to Eund the projects. The Cost
Feasible Plan is therefore a plan that iden-
tifies the projects that the aeea can afford
to put in place over the next 20 years.
There are severa: rovk being developed ro
help the FCMPO move from the Needs Plar.
to the Cost Feasible Plan. A list of evalua-
tion criteria ate being developed to score
each of the projects baser{ on effectiveness,
impact to the community, project crams and
other factors. Ar each of the public work-
shops, pareieipanu will be asked their opin-
ions of the projects. Local planners and engi-
neers have also been asked to revrew the
projects and provide inpux. AlI of this infor-
mation will be presented to the MPO at
their December meeting at which point they
will have tke frnal say on which projects
constitute the Cosc Feasible Plan.
Yn order to meet a Federal requirement, the
First Coast MPO must have their long-range
tmrsporcaeion plan adopted by the end of
December Should the FCMPO fail eo meet
this deadline they will jeopardize federal
funds for cranspottation projects.
Who ~s the FCMP®?
Any census defined "urbanized" area with
a population of 50,000 or more is reyuited
to have a metropolitan eranspottacioa plan-
ning process in place is order co receive fed-
eral cranspottation dollars. The recenciy
renamed First Coast Me[ropolitarz Planning
Organiracion (FCMPO) was established in
1978 to implement this process.
The FCMPO is comprised of elrced
officials and appointed representatives
from Jacksonville, the Jacksonville Beaches,
Clay County and St. Johns County. Several
committees advise the FCMPO board. These
include the Citizens Advisory Committee
matte up of interested dtizens, the Technical
Coordinating Committee made up of ta-al
planners and engiaees, and the Bicycle/
Pedestrian Advisory Committee, made up
of bicycle and pedestrian advocates. The
committees welcome public participation.
The FCMPO meets once a month to review
transjxxtation issues and give guidance to
the Florida Department of Transpottacion
nn how they would tike to see state and
fcderaL transportation dollars allocated.
'~&ova to Contact the FCMP®
Sf you would like to be on one of the com-
mittees or would like to be on the FCMPO
mailing list, you may contact [he FCMPO
via their staff. Ms. Wanda Forrest, Senior
Transportation Planner with the FCMPO
is serving as Project Manager for the
LRTP. You may contact her with any ques-
tions or comments as follows:
First Coast Metropolitan Planning
O¢ganization
128 East Forsyth Street, Suite 304
Jacksonville, FL 32202
Phane(904)630-1903
Fax (904) 630-2828
W Forrest@coj.net
~Vevv Web Sote
That's righq the First Coast MPO has gone
worldwide. You may now find us on the
weh at www.fiamoastmpo.tom.