JACKSONVILLE -- Mayor John Peyton plans to present by September a more than $100
million plan to improve roads around the city's growing port.
Within six months, the city also will decide how to market Cecil Commerce Center
and whether it will retain control of it, sell it to a private developer or
enter into a public-private partnership.
The addition of new Asian shipping service by Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. and the
expected deal with Hanjin Shipping Company Ltd. are projected to triple the
port's container traffic. That means adjacent roads could see up to 8,500 trucks
daily by 2020, said Jeff Sheffield, director of planning for the First Coast
Metropolitan Planning Organization.
The Mitsui terminal is set to open in January and Hanjin is expected to sign an
agreement with the Jacksonville Port Authority soon.
Peyton said it wasn't clear how much money the city would give to the
infrastructure investment. In June, he told the U.S. Congress that it would take
about $325 million to make the necessary highway improvements and $100 million
to build a new rail yard.
Jacksonville City Council President Ronnie Fussell has formed a new committee to
help the port authority and the Jacksonville Aviation Authority seek federal
funding for infrastructure improvements. Helping to prepare the initiative are
the port authority, the First Coast Metropolitan Planning Organization, the
Jacksonville Transportation Authority, the Florida Department of Transportation
and Gov. Charlie Crist's office.
On Cecil ownership, Peyton said privatizing the 4,500 undeveloped acres owned by
the city would give it stability not likely to be found under city ownership.
Changes to the city's mayor, city council president and the head of the
Jacksonville Economic Development Commission could make it hard to maintain a
steady path.
But the city's keeping enough property to host a large manufacturer would be an
excellent economic enticement, he said.
The city doesn't have any potential tenants for such a "megasite." City
officials are talking with about half a dozen developers interested in buying
the Cecil site, but Peyton declined to name them.
Copyright @2010 [InsightRealty Group, Inc.]. All rights reserved.
Revised: February 10, 2010
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