Traffic is getting worse in Nassau County, but there are few dollars for new or improved roads -- and even fewer solutions.
That was a consensus from a panel of experts who gathered during a community forum last week. The experts represented the state, the county, and the city (Fernandina Beach), and addressed about 60 residents at the Council on Aging building.
The topic: traffic on our roads. The dominant topic: the 14-mile stretch of State Highway A1A between Amelia Island and U.S. Interstate 95.
When you look at the estimated costs to widen the 14 miles of A1A to four lanes -- about $130 million -- you can see why there are few strategies to pay for it. Issuing bonds to finance the work(essentially borrowing the money from the public) is not feasible, because the county is not in a financial position to do it.
Patching together the widening project over time will not work, officials say. This would just aggravate the traffic conundrum with years of roadwork and add little value.
The idea of the state helping to pay some of the costs is valid (since A1A is a state highway). However, the state has a five-year plan for roadwork, and it entails all 67 counties. The A1A project is considered a priority, but so are a lot of other projects, according to state officials.
Several residents asked if safety is an issue when the state is reviewing potential projects. This would mean a road that has become overcrowded and unsafe would catapult up the list of priorities.
After all, there are statistics showing the number of accidents along A1A have soared in recent years, due to increasing congestion. Some of the congestion is caused by the fleets of 18-wheel trucks that carry logs to the two mills on Amelia Island.
Some people in the audience asked about putting the logs on rail cars, since a train track already crosses the Intracoastal Waterway and enters downtown Fernandina Beach. This has been considered, but the logs that rail cars could carry hardly puts a dent in the demand, officials say.
The topic of establishing alternate routes alongside A1A was also discussed. Again, the idea has been tried, but there are few co-existing routes that could alleviate much traffic from A1A.
Since the county and city road departments each operate on small budgets, using these funds for the A1A project could exclude all other roads in need. The road department budgets reportedly range from $150,000 per year up to a little over $1 million, depending on the calendar year.
A universal agreement is that the county has waited too long to address the needs for bigger and better roads. In hindsight, the stretch of A1A through Yulee should have been widened before the demand hit -- like is being done with the portion of the highway from I-95 into Callahan.
The forum was sponsored by the East Nassau Homeowners' Council, as well as the Amelia Island Association, or AIA. Both community groups want better and safer roads. They also advocate important issues such as responsible and appealing development, the protection of trees, and efficient government.
The issues are plentiful. The concerns are being expressed in forums such as these. Now all we need is for people to listen.
(Steve Nicklas is a financial adviser who lives on Amelia Island. He can be reached at 904-753-0236 or at thenicklasteam2@msn.com.)
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