Two rail projects that were the talk of Tallahassee a few months ago are quietly moving down the tracks, state transportation officials said Friday.
The federal government only gave Florida half the money it requested for a bullet connecting Tampa and Orlando and the purchase of 61 miles of existing tracks from CSX Corp. for the controversial SunRail Orlando commuter rail is not yet final. But Assistant Transportation Secretary for Engineering and Operations Kevin Thibault told the News Service of Florida Friday that both the inter-city and commuter trains will be rolling by early 2015.
Thibault said the Department of Transportation already has $66 million of the $1.25 billion in high speed rail money it was awarded, and was optimistic that at least 90 percent of the $2.6 billion the bullet train is projected to cost, will come from federal money. He added that the department hoped to put SunRail track purchase in escrow this fall and to finalize the deal by November.
The department is already surveying land for both trains, Thibault said.
“Right now, we have trucks out on the interstate, taking soil samples,” he said. “The goal is get the work done by the fall and get back with the Federal Rail Administration to…get them the delta they need to fund (for the bullet train).”
Florida was one of the biggest winners in the sweepstakes early this year for high speed rail money that was included in the federal economic stimulus, winning the second largest portion of $8 billion that had been set aside by Washington. But plans for the train called for double the initial award.
Thibault said the department is hoping to update cost estimates for the high speed rail to make it more palatable to federal officials, though he said the train can’t be built in its entirety for the $1.25 billion the state is slated to receive.
The thing slowing down the wheels on SunRail isn’t money – purchasing the tracks was included in the Department of Transportation’s five-year work plan long before lawmakers approved the deal, just in case the bitter two-year fight in the Legislature ever ended. SunRail is projected to cost $1.2 billion, with plans calling for $641 million to be paid to CSX for use of the track and an additional $600 million to build stations and purchase equipment.
Backers said while it was being debated that the project would create 13,000 jobs and generate $4.6 billion for the construction sector over 20 years, which Thibault touted again Friday.
“In central Florida, you’re going to see a lot of job opportunities, from sign construction to engineering to ticket dispensers,” he said. “There’s huge support from the local communities (for both SunRail and the high speed rail).”
Earlier this month, Senate President Jeff Atwater and House Speaker Larry Cretul made their three picks each for the nine-member Florida Rail Commission, a panel that was created by the legislation that enabled the SunRail deal. Gov. Charlie Crist, who also has three appointments, has yet to fill his slots, but one member, Sen. Jeremy Ring, D-Margate, said this week the panel was ready to get the wheels moving.
“It’s exciting,” Ring told the News Service. “I think this commission is going to have oversight in creating a new transportation paradigm in the state. I’m ready to meet now.”
The excitement is not universal, however. Vocal SunRail critics in the Legislature like Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, have not said much about the train since it cleared the Legislature in December, but a Republican candidate for Orange County mayor who has been endorsed by the Florida Tea Party is planning to gather supporters to rally against the train next week at the Orange County Courthouse.
“Orange County is committing to Sun Rail without a dedicated funding source and not being honest about the future,” the candidate, Matthew Falconer, wrote in an E-mail to supporters of his campaign. “A $300 million sales tax will come before voters. But this time our leaders will say we need the tax because if we terminate the Sun Rail project the central Florida taxpayers will have to pay the Federal government back the $500 million it invests in the program. Sun Rail is a pair of Chinese handcuff on the taxpayers of central Florida.”
“SunRail is not a done deal,” he concluded in the E-mail.
By Keith Laing
The News Service of Florida
