That's why city leaders are looking at adding a commuter rail station near the intersection of King Street and U.S. 1 in St. Augustine. Later this summer, the commissioners will decide whether to create a new zoning designation called Mobility Oriented Development. And the owners of the property at that King Street-U.S. 1 intersection will apply to have it rezoned should the zoning designation be adopted. A rail station is part of the proposed redevelopment plan there. But rail service plans routinely have been floated around and later discarded, mostly because of the high costs in establishing service.
Could this round be different?
St. Augustine Commissioner Nancy Sikes-Kline hopes so. She also serves on the North Florida Transportation Planning Organization, which is the independent regional transportation planning agency for Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties. She said the organization has gone through the financial feasibility study, and commuter rail service is slated to be developed in the period of 2036-2045. But she'd be glad to see it come together sooner. "I'm grateful that JTA is making progress and that they're optimistic about the timeframe," she told the Business Journal. "But it did seem very optimistic to say three to five years when it's in the 2036-2045 timeframe. Not that it can't be moved up. Projects move around all the time.
"We'd love to have it tomorrow."
As Clark referred to, it's unclear exactly what kind of commitment and cooperation would be required of the various local governments. The St. Johns County government obviously would have to be heavily involved as would the government of St. Augustine. Clark said a stop in the Race Track Road area — well outside the St. Augustine city limits — would be ideal for the St. Johns County segment of the project.
For the rail project to go forward, all Northeast Florida stakeholders must see it as beneficial.
"I think that would have to be supported among the (four-county) region," Sikes-Kline said. "Because you're competing against dollars on their projects as well, so everybody would have to agree that it was a priority." For St. Johns County, Sikes-Kline said a commuter rail system would likely be used by tourists as well as residents going to and from work. That would help St. Augustine as it tries to encourage visitation without those people trying to park downtown, she said. "We would encourage that because, ideally, they would be coming without cars," she said. "As you know, we have parking (issues). All desirable cities have parking problems. We have them, too."
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