JTA says commuter rail from Jax to St. Augustine could happen before close of 2020s Commuter rail service between Jacksonville and St. Augustine could happen within five years if the funding were in place.
By Stuart Korfhage – Digital Editor, Jacksonville Business Journal Jun 29, 2022
While it's probably going to take hundreds of millions from the federal government to make it a reality, the Jacksonville Transportation Authority says commuter rail service in Northeast Florida is more feasible than some might realize. Speaking to the St. Augustine City Commission earlier this week, Jacksonville Transportation Authority Director of Economic Development Richard Clark said there could be service between Jacksonville and St. Augustine in three to five years. The two most difficult parts, Clark said, were getting all the local governments aligned and getting the federal government to allocate the "north of $600 million" needed for the rail project in Northeast Florida. "In a perfect world, you could have an operating train in three years," Clark told the Commission, while acknowledging that three to five years was a more realistic, although still optimistic, estimate. While every budgeting process is dicey, what Clark said the project has going for it are: obvious need and a route that already has right of way. "Construction is the easiest part," Clark said. "It’s the quickest part. Laying track is a less than 12- month process." As for the need, he said there are an estimated 40,000 commuters who drive into Duval County from St. Johns every day for work as well as15,000 going the opposite way. St. Johns County is growing at a scorching pace with more than twice as many residents now as in 2000. There are numerous residential projects currently open and selling rapidly with more in the planning stages. "We need to get way ahead of what traffic is coming our way," Clark said. "The most profound impact we can make is commuter rail." JTA has hired WSP USA Inc. to study the feasibility of transit-oriented development along a potential 38-mile light rail corridor between downtown Jacksonville and St. Augustine. St. Augustine City Manager John Regan said during the Commission meeting that Interstate 95 is "a slow-moving crisis" that isn't going to get better.
There are plans to expand the road by one more lane each way from World Golf Village to Jacksonville, but that will be the extent of potential expansion because of lack of right of way.
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