J Magazine Winter 2017

sponded with a supportive editorial. “Let’s
not be afraid to consider new ideas, while
carefully examining the costs and consequences,”
the Editorial Board wrote.
So what’s different now? Everything.
Development along the river Downtown
is the difference.
It appears that the District on the Southbank
and the Shipyards on the Northbank
are on the way.
Shad Khan with the Shipyards and Peter
Rummell with the District are big-time
leaders who make things happen.
Other developments along the Downtown
riverfront could include a tourist attraction
in the USS Adams near the Shipyards,
a convention center near the Hyatt
and a refurbished Museum of Science and
History on the Southbank.
Now imagine linking this riverwalk activity
with a nearby aerial gondola.
Balanky has been speaking to a worldwide
leader in gondolas, Doppelmayr, and
has been told that it could be built in a JTAowned
lot next to Balanky’s planned tower
near Kings Avenue on the Southbank
and connect on the Northbank near the
site of a proposed convention center.
So who is going to pay for this? Balanky
WHY GONDOLAS?
One of North America’s most prominent
advocates for various forms of cable-propelled
transit is Creative Urban Projects. One of
its spinoffs is The Gondola Project, which
includes on its website a handy explanation of
the common-sense uses of aerial gondolas.
THEY’RE safe
There is no traffic 25 feet in the air. The
chance of being injured in a gondola is less
than while skiing.
THE Technology is proven
Modern cable technology has been in use for
70 years. The first passenger gondola was used
in the 1930s.
THEY’RE easy to build
Smaller, less complex systems can be designed
and built in one year.
THEY’RE reliable
Systems are over 99 percent reliable.
THEY’RE not a cure-all
It’s best used to fill a gap in an existing
transportation network.
THEY’RE flexible
Cars can be added and subtracted depending
on the number of people to be moved.
says it could be a public-private partnership.
If there is a consistent flow of riders
from the convention center combined
with some local traffic, aerial gondola
could be lucrative.
With a stupendous river crossing, Jacksonville
could have a win-win.
The aerial gondolas would be instantly
recognizable as Jacksonville, a fun and exciting
iconic signature.
The gondolas would have some use as
transit across the river with the ability to
add gondola cars for high-usage periods
like Jacksonville Jaguars games.
It may make more sense to open the aerial
gondola system once the Downtown riverfront
has an active new convention center,
a Landing development on the Northbank
and the District on the Southbank.
But planning should begin now.
This is not pie in the sky. It’s an idea
whose time has come.
Let’s dream and make it reality.
MIKE CLARK has been reporting and editing for
The Florida Times-Union and Jacksonville Journal since
1973. He has been editorial page editor for the last
12 years following 15 years as reader advocate.
HOW TOMORROW SUPPLIES
Whether it ends up in your cupboard today or your driveway
tomorrow, CSX moves the essentials of life every hour of every day.
csx.com/essentials
WINTER 2017-18 | J MAGAZINE 53