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The development and implementation of a major new transportation corridor such as this evolves in several distinct phases including planning, project development & environmental study (PD&E), design, right-of-way acquisition and construction. Regional Planning Study (completed) description: The purpose of the study was to determine the need for additional transportation capacity across the St. Johns River, between Clay and St. Johns Counties. The study assessed the travel demand between Clay and St. Johns counties, both at the present time and in the future. It considered all travel between the counties, including 'through' trips which pass through both counties. The study evaluated how traffic would change if new capacity, in the form of a new bridge across the St. Johns River and approaching roadways, were added at various test locations. Traffic forecasts were then developed for the new bridge, existing bridges, and the connections to the existing roadway network. corridors: results: The planning study concluded that travel demand between Clay and St. Johns counties is expected to increase tremendously in the future due to population growth and the large scale developments in each county. The study concluded that additional roadway capacity between Clay and St. Johns counties is needed to serve future traffic. public involvement activities: 2001
2002
Corridor Study (completed) description: Following the planning study, the project entered the early stages of the PD&E study. This particular phase, called the Corridor Study Phase, built upon the findings identified in the planning study. During the initial phases of the corridor study, a total of eight corridors were identified and proposed. Three of the corridors used existing roads wholly or in part to provide the connection between Blanding Blvd. and Interstate 95/SR 9B. The remaining five used an entirely new highway location. After establishing the corridor locations, the effectiveness of each corridor was measured in terms of satisfying the future transportation need. It was determined that the three corridors which used the existing road network would not be able to meet the future highway capacity needs. The remaining five corridors were evaluated for various impacts that would result including environmental, social and economic impacts. This evaluation also included the "No Build" alternative, which was used as a baseline to measure all alternatives against. corridors:
results: After reviewing public comments, along with engineering, environmental and traffic analysis, the decision was made to carry forward both river crossing locations and their associated corridors to the Project Development and Environment (PD&E) Study phase of the project. The Green and Orange Corridors were dropped from further consideration. A new corridor, titled the Black Corridor, was added in response to comments that the Purple Corridor did not connect to I-95 in a southerly direction. public involvement activities: 2004
Conceptual Design & EIS Phase (Underway) description: The purpose of the PD&E study is to evaluate in further detail the impacts to the social, natural and physical environment of each corridor. The impacts will be documented in an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for review and approval by the Federal Highway Administration. The study will be used to support the decisions concerning if and where the improvements should be built and will determine whether or not further modifications will need to be made to the proposed alternatives. corridors:
public involvement activities: 2005
2006
Design (Currently not scheduled) Right-of-Way Acquisition (Currently not scheduled) Construction (Currently not scheduled)
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