FIRST COAST COMMUTER RAIL TOD STUDY | INTRODUCTION
FIRST COAST COMMUTER RAIL TOD STUDY | INTRODUCTION
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CORRIDOR OVERVIEW
STATION EVALUATION
The FCCR Southeast Corridor is proposed to have as many as 15 commuter rail stations between Downtown Jacksonville and St. Augustine, crossing the county boundary between Duval and St Johns Counties, as depicted in Figure 1-3. Proposed commuter rail stations are located in a variety of urban and suburban environments, ranging from Downtown Jacksonville to emerging residential neighborhoods where commuter rail may provide a more convenient and efficient means of travel. The FCCR alignment is proposed to operate on existing rail infrastructure and rights-of-way (ROW) that exists between the two cities. The northern terminus of the FCCR Southeast Corridor is the Jacksonville Regional Transportation Center (JRTC) just west of the downtown core in the LaVilla neighborhood. There are multiple local, regional, and interstate transportation services at this location, as well as investments in the development of the JRTC Station area to make it become a more transit-oriented and livable neighborhood in Downtown Jacksonville. The commuter rail alignment then crosses over the St. Johns River on the existing Florida East Coast (FEC) Strauss Trunnion Bascule Bridge into the Southbank and San Marco neighborhoods, two lively areas near downtown with strong existing commercial and employment hubs. Then the commuter rail alignment travels along the existing freight rail route just west of US 1, with stops at major commercial, retail, employment, or residential nodes. Prominent station locations include a stop at J. Turner Butler Boulevard, Baymeadows Road, the Avenues Mall and Avenues Walk. As the commuter rail service travels through more suburban and rural areas between Jacksonville and St. Augustine, distances between stations can be over eight miles. Station areas in the more rural and undeveloped areas of St. Johns and Duval counties offer the opportunity for large-scale TOD opportunities, such as near CR 210. Distances between commuter rail stations decrease as the FCCR service enters St. Augustine. There are three stations proposed within the urban fabric of its historic Downtown before ultimately terminating service just west of the Flagler Hospital and its associated clinics along SR 312.
The FCCR TOD Study area includes 15 potential station areas along the proposed rail corridor. Each station area was evaluated on natural and built environment, land use, zoning and ownership, and transit and multimodal connectivity to determine TOD opportunities and barriers. TOD station area plans are developed for station areas that have the characteristics needed for successful TOD. At the time the project was authorized, this TOD Study initially envisioned the review of TOD opportunities at four proposed stations (JRTC, Avenues Walk, Racetrack Road, and King Street) along the FCCR corridor, with the potential of adding stations to meet overall accessibility needs along the FCCR corridor. Upon preliminary assessment, additional stations (Baymeadows Road, Palencia, and SR 312) were included as potential stations for detailed TOD analysis. Due to substantial redevelopment in the vicinity of the Racetrack Road Station area, a station initially proposed at Racetrack Road was eliminated from further consideration. A station at CR 210, based on its proximity to Racetrack Road and the availability of undeveloped parcels, was selected as an alternative for creating new TOD opportunities. Additionally, while this study was conducted, the owner of the identified parcel at the proposed King Street Station began planning efforts for the development of the site, thus this study did not advance the analysis of this station location. As a result, seven stations (JRTC, Baymeadows, Avenues Walk, CR 210, Palencia, King Street, and SR 312) were identified for TOD, and a detailed analysis was performed on six, as depicted in Figure 1-3.
Figure 1-3: FCCR CORRIDOR MAP
FCCR TOD
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