City Council member Matt Carlucci said Friday he favors taking $150 million from a proposed Skyway conversion project and using the money instead for adding the long-planned Emerald Trail to the list of projects that would be financed by doubling Jacksonville's local gas tax.
The shift has full backing from Mayor Lenny Curry, his chief of staff Jordan Elsbury said.
"From a policy perspective, the mayor has always supported funding the Emerald Trail," Elsbury said. "This is a revenue source that can cover it and the mayor is 100 percent supportive of the amendment."
That amendment to the gas tax legislation would still leave the Jacksonville Transportation Authority with $229 million in the Jobs for Jax project list for turning the elevated structure where Skyway trains run into a system that uses autonomous vehicles that also can operate on city streets.