J Magazine Winter 2019
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lanes and two lanes won’t hurt traffic flow.<br />
Daily traffic counts show that for most<br />
of the day volumes are well below capacity.<br />
The roads exceed capacity for just 30 minutes<br />
in the morning and 45 minutes in the<br />
afternoon.<br />
Currently along Park Street, some of the<br />
sidewalks are so narrow it’s like being on a<br />
tightrope with pedestrians stuck between<br />
fast-moving traffic and blank walls.<br />
Anyone walking along Riverside Avenue<br />
in the summer is well aware of the lack of<br />
shade. Palm trees along the sidewalk are<br />
useless while shade trees mark the lawns<br />
away from the sidewalk.<br />
The planners held a two-day charrette<br />
at the Winston Family YMCA in 2017. Common<br />
themes included the need for more onstreet<br />
parking, better wayfinding signage,<br />
reduced travel speeds, more shade coverage<br />
on sidewalks and pedestrian areas, increased<br />
public transportation and economic<br />
growth.<br />
With fewer lanes, on-street parking could<br />
be added, sometimes on both sides of the<br />
street.<br />
Better signage will help businesses and<br />
visitors.<br />
Reduced traffic speeds will help safety<br />
and encourage pedestrians and bicyclists.<br />
Located between Downtown, Five Points<br />
1<br />
ROAD<br />
DIETING<br />
The project on Riverplace<br />
Boulevard on the Southbank<br />
focuses on the need for bike and<br />
pedestrian safety by adding (1) wide<br />
sidewalks, (2) buffered bike lanes, (3) safe<br />
crossings and (4) fewer vehicular lanes.<br />
and LaVilla, Brooklyn is well-situated for<br />
public transportation.<br />
As for the intersection of Riverside Avenue<br />
and Forest Street, it’s a sizable barrier for<br />
pedestrians and bicyclists. One alternative is<br />
a roundabout.<br />
The Riverside Avenue approach to the<br />
Acosta Bridge is a major hindrance for walkers<br />
and bicyclists. Some sort of pedestrian<br />
walkway is needed.<br />
Forest Street is little used, marked with<br />
3<br />
2<br />
4<br />
retention ponds. Imagine it as a green boulevard<br />
that invites people to the riverwalk.<br />
Bottom line, Brooklyn’s renaissance deserves<br />
a road system that treats it as a neighborhood,<br />
not a pass-through. Changes are<br />
coming.<br />
MIKE CLARK is Editorial Page Editor of<br />
The Florida Times-Union and Editor of J. He has<br />
been a reporter and editor for the Jacksonville<br />
newspapers since 1973. He lives in Nocatee.<br />
JV-0003234628-01<br />
WINTER <strong>2019</strong> | J MAGAZINE 53
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