It was first about public safety. Then, modernizing city roads. Now Jacksonville, Fla., Mayor Lenny Curry says he wants to demolish the elevated ramp connecting the Hart Bridge to downtown so cargo trucks can better access the port.

Eric Green walked miles of hallways in Washington and Tallahassee to win support for deepening Jacksonville’s harbor.

The high-voltage power lines that span Florida's St. Johns River and touch down on Blount Island were installed long before the Jacksonville Port Authority landed business from ocean-crossing cargo ships whose size is growing in leaps and bounds.

As Jacksonville, Fla., faces a monumental decision about how to pay for one of the most expensive public works projects in city history, a retired CSX executive has emerged as an unlikely source of do-it-yourself research calling into question the bedrock assumptions the Jacksonville Port Authority uses to justify deepening the St. Johns River.

JaxPort officials discussed with city administrators Jacksonville paying between $93 million and $167 million to deepen 13 miles of the St. Johns River to accommodate larger ships with more cargo, according to e-mails former port authority CEO Brian Taylor deleted from his computer during his resignation last month.

A new $30 million cargo facility at the Port of Jacksonville won’t open until later this summer, but trains began pulling in April 10 loaded with military gear.