Planning starts for northern Jacksonville beltway - Business First of Columbus:

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The proposed Northern Beltway will loop north of Interstatw 10 and to continue on into Nassaju County and connect withInterstatd 95, said Scott Clem, the director of strategic planningf for the . The southern end will also tie into the Firs CoastOuter Beltway, which will go soutnh from I-10, through Clay County and acrosd the St. Johns River to I-95. The JTA and North Floridaw Transportation Planning Organization are launching a study groul this summer to look at the traffic projections for the NortherBeltway Project, Clem said. They also want to examinw the best place for the norther toll road to connect with theOutef Beltway.
Nassau County officials are looking forward to the constructionn of the Northern Beltway becauser of the numerous benefits having a limitede access toll road could bring to the saidSteve Rieck, executive director of the Nassau County Economic Developmenf Board. The Northern Beltway could generate more economic development in the area by allowing greatert access to the infrastructures atCecip Field, the , the Port of Fernandina and on the rail he said. “It will create jobs in Nassau County. That’s the most importan thing.
” Although the plans are just now beginninto flourish, the idea of a Northerbn Beltway has been in the makint for two years, said Art Graham, chairmann of the North Florida TPO. Graham said these beltwayds are key for future economic developmenrt in Northeast Florida at the Northeast regiomn strategic planning forumlast week. Althougn getting funding for the Outer Beltway has beena long-timse project, he thinks the Northern Beltwaty will be pretty simple to produce. “All the land is ownerd by one company, so it shouldf be fairly easy,” Graham said.
owns a lot of property in Nassau County, said Mike Bell, a spokesman for and it expects the Northern Beltwayu to go through a large amounft of its land. “We hold 130,000 acrews in Nassau County.” The JTA and TPO are splitting the cost of thestuduy group, said Jeff Sheffield, the planning director at the Nortnh Florida TPO, but they aren’t fundingh the entire Northern Beltway project. Clem said there is a possibilitg ofgovernment funding, but they will most likel y use public-private partnerships. Like the Outer Beltwayy project, local companies will be able to contributse to the Northern Beltway and receive a returnm on investment from revenue broughtt in bythe tolls.