The Balfour Beatty Vision 2 Reality (V2R) team has been selected to deliver the Bay Street Innovation Corridor (BSIC) Project on behalf of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA).

The JTA board selected the Balfour Beatty V2R team during its August Meeting, following the conclusion of a two-step procurement process to launch what will be Phase I of the JTA’s Ultimate Urban Circulator (U2C) autonomous vehicle service in Downtown Jacksonville.

The U2C is the JTA’s vision for the conversion and expansion of the Skyway automated people mover (APM) system in Downtown Jacksonville and the surrounding neighborhoods. The three-phase U2C includes the Bay Street Innovation Corridor, the full conversion of the Skyway superstructure, and the expansion into nearby neighborhoods. When completed, the system will expand the current Skyway from a 2.5-mile system to the 10-mile U2C, levering the latest autonomous vehicle technologies.

“This award represents a major milestone for the U2C, the JTA and Downtown Jacksonville,” said JTA CEO Nathaniel P. Ford Sr. “We are confident the Balfour Beatty team and its partners will deliver a world-class project on behalf of the taxpayers of Jacksonville, placing our community at the forefront of innovation.”

Pending JTA board approval of a final contract, this will be second major project Balfour Beatty will deliver for the JTA, following the completion of the iconic and award-winning Jacksonville Regional Transportation Center at LaVilla (JRTC) in May 2020. With the award approved by the JTA board, the agency and Balfour Beatty will move to negotiating the terms of a final contract, which will also come before the Board later this year.

Balfour Beatty will leverage an integrated progressive design build (AV-DBOM) method and partner with Superior Construction Co. Southeast, Beep Inc., WGI Inc., Stantec Consulting Services, and Miller Electric to deliver the project.

Through this consortium, Balfour Beatty at its partners will oversee 60% design of the BSIC, a three-mile, at-grade service along Bay Street that will run from Hogan Street to the Sports & Entertainment District, near TIAA Bank Field, 121 Financial Field and the VyStar Veterans Memorial Area. The approximately $44 million project is fully funded and supported by local, in-kind, state and federal funds including the $12.5 million BUILD grant awarded to the JTA in 2019.