JTA CEO: Gas tax increase for new infrastructure ‘critical for our community’
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Jacksonville Transportation Authority CEO Nat Ford. (Copyright 2021 by WJXT News4Jax - All rights reserved.)
The tax which would double the local gas tax from 6 to 12 cents per gallon would generate nearly a billion dollars over 25 years. That income would be split between the city and the Jacksonville Transportation Authority and be used for both road and other projects, including transportation, paying for septic tank replacement and other unfunded city projects.
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“When you start looking at great cities, great cities have great transportation. We’ve done very well over the years in terms of the programs and infrastructure we’ve built up until this point, but if we look over the next 30 years, there is some significant needs that need to be addressed in terms of transportation,” Ford said. “It’s the right time, and the time is now.”
COMMENTARY | Mayor Lenny Curry will propose legislation in the coming months increasing Jacksonville s gas tax by 6 cents to jump start a nearly $1 billion campaign to complete backlogged road projects many of which will include adding bike lanes and sidewalks to busy thoroughfares and will include drainage improvements as well as financing a Jacksonville Transportation Authority effort to modernize the Skyway and upgrade bus stops and other transit infrastructure throughout the city.
It would be the largest targeted public works campaign since the $2.2 billion Better Jacksonville Plan. And by dedicating a source of revenue to road projects the city would otherwise have to fund year by year, the extra gas tax revenue would free up money in the annual budget that Curry will propose spending on a long-term, large-scale effort to phase out septic tanks and extend water and sewer service to some of the city s oldest and long-neglected neighborhoods, a long-term goal of environ
03:10 PM EST Share The proposal would pay for roads, bridges, the Skyway and could help fund the city’s septic tank phaseout.
The city would extend and double Duval County’s local option gas tax to pay for transportation infrastructure projects and free money to address Jacksonville’s aging septic tanks under a proposal by Mayor Lenny Curry.
Chief of Staff Jordan Elsbury said in a news conference March 10 the mayor wants a 10-year extension of the current gas tax to 2046 and an additional 6 cents per gallon.
Elsbury said revenue from the gas tax increase would free nearly $300 million to $400 million in general fund revenue, which Curry wants to use to “take a substantial bite” out of Duval County’s estimated $2 billion failing septic tank problem.
Merrill Road and Townsend Boulevard intersection improvements: $575,000
Mickler Road Widening: $330,000
Lone Star Road extension: (east of Mill Cove to Trednick Parkway): $3 million
University Boulevard complete street project (Arlington Road to Arlington Expressway) $7 million
University Boulevard/Merrill road complete street: $1 million
Traffic signal at Pulaski Road and Howard Road: $600,000
Traffic signal Airport Center Drive and Gillespie Avenue: $700,000
New Berlin Road (Cedar Point to Staratt/Pulaski Road intersection) $40 million
Cedar Point/Saw Pit Road (Industrial rebuild from New Berlin to Shark): $17.5 million
Hodges Boulevard intersections traffic signals: $2.2 million
San Pablo Parkway traffic signals: $2.4 million
Belfort Road widening (Touchton to Butler Boulevard) $7.2 million
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