The Jacksonville Transportation Authority awarded a $1.21 million contract to Superior Construction Co. Inc. to build a Skyway station in Brooklyn.
The board voted 5-0 on Feb. 25 to approve Superior’s bid for the elevated platform on 0.11 acres at 725 Leila St.
Brooklyn Station will connect to the adjacent Skyway staging tracks that JTA will convert to support passenger transit.
Plans filed with the city in March 2020 show the project will link the LaVilla Station at Bay and Lee streets in LaVilla to the Downtown Northbank neighborhood.
JTA Vice President of System Development Greer Gillis told the board before the vote that service to Brooklyn Station is scheduled to begin in September.
“The project will connect the Urban Core, LaVilla and Riverside while serving as a pedestrian extender between Downtown and Brooklyn,” Gillis said.
“The station will expand transportation options for those living and working in Downtown, Brooklyn and San Marco.”
Superior is a Portage, Indiana-based contractor with its Southeastern U.S. operations in Jacksonville.
To reduce the project cost, JTA is using the staging tracks in Brooklyn rather than building additional track infrastructure.
The project scope includes concrete flat work, loading and unloading platforms, Americans with Disabilities Act accessible ramps, stairs and handrails, a canopy system, electrical work, site amenities and a skywalk connection to the Brooklyn area, Gillis said.
The Brooklyn extension eventually could be adapted to support autonomous vehicles in phase II of JTA’s proposed Ultimate Urban Circulator program.
JTA CEO Nathaniel Ford said Feb. 25 that Skyway service expansion to Brooklyn is justified because of the surge of residential and retail development in the area over the past 15 to 20 years.
The neighborhood will have more than 1,000 apartments by the end of 2021.
Ford said the Skyway also will serve employment growth with Fidelity National Information Services Inc.’s headquarters under construction along Riverside Avenue.
“This renaissance brings a much-needed energy to the Brooklyn area; however, the results have led to a need for additional transportation and infrastructure,” Ford said.
The station stems from a 2013 JTA board directive to research a Skyway extension into Brooklyn. At that time, the project budget was $19.8 million. JTA shelved the project after it failed to secure a $10 million grant to partially fund the extension.
