JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Friday is your last chance to tell the Jacksonville Transportation Authority what you want for the future of the Skyway downtown.
The Jacksonville Transportation Authority has held eight public meetings and posted an online input survey about the options for the Skyway.
The five build options include fixing the current skyway vehicle, getting new ones, converting the current skyway to an autonomous vehicle, removing the skyway altogether and putting the autonomous vehicles on the road, or using the skyway as a multipurpose trail.
During the Duval DOGE committee meeting on Tuesday, JTA CEO Nat Ford gave a glimpse into which option the public is leaning towards right now.
“Public sentiment so far seems to be favoring and preserving and reinvesting in the Skyway rather than removing it or inaction,” said Ford during the meeting on Tuesday. “With the ongoing split between the placemaking of Alternative 5 and new trains for Alternative 2.”
There are concerns that changing the Skyway could force the city to pay back the $100 million dollars it got from the federal government for the project. Ford said JTA reached out to the Federal Transit Administration recently to see if they would be open to negotiating.
“We’re optimistic that we’ll be able to reach something short of the 100 million dollar, up to the 100 million dollar payback,” said Ford.
We spoke to Councilman Jimmy Peluso on Thursday about the Skyway proposals.
“The one thing I’m not seeing is the price tags for all of these, the one thing I’m not seeing is what the federal government is going to do for all of these,” said Councilman Jimmy Peluso. “So if we’re just dreaming big, I want a light rail system.”
Councilman Peluso represents the district in which the Skyway is located. He says it needs some big changes.
“The Skyway, as it stands right now, is just not doing it,” said Councilman Peluso. “It needs to go substantially faster, it needs to go to other destinations. So if we could put on a new vehicle that’s substantially faster, we can expand it to the stadium to other places. That to me would be incredibly exciting.”
The survey closes at midnight Friday. You can access the survey by CLICKING HERE.
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