around it. And it is also promoting growth for your commercial and your entertainment around the station. It attracts people, and it adds to a vibrant, connected community.”
Why a commuter rail line? Drivers who go from Downtown Jacksonville to historic St. Augustine join a long line of everyday traffic taking that 45-minute to hourlong drive along Interstate 95 or U.S. 1, traffic studies show. JTA’s alternative is a 48-minute ride on the First Coast Commuter Rail that would avoid traffic, which is sure to grow with expected residential, commercial and retail growth. Proposals to link St. Augustine and Jacksonville with a rail line have been discussed for years, including a 2009 study showing three possible routes, all starting in Downtown Jacksonville. One would have gone north on CSX rails to Yulee, one south on CSX tracks to Green Cove Springs and the third southeast on Florida East Coast Railroad tracks to St. Augustine. The estimate then was about $622 million.
A commuter rail line would take traffic off Interstate 95 with a 48-minute trip. | JTA In 2010, JTA did another analysis into a commuter rail, then picked the Jacksonville-to- St. Augustine route as preferred in 2013. Six years later, a JTA study showed a need for the commuter rail system, followed by a preliminary environmental study.
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