Governor Rick Scott, through Transportation Secretary Ananth Prasad, gave the green light Friday for the 61-mile SunRail commuter rail project to go forward in Central Florida.
Prasad, who on Tuesday barnstormed various cities and counties in Central Florida to gauge the level of support and to carry Scott’s message that there will be no additional funds from the state should they come up short on funds while operating the commuter rail line said, “there were no new facts discovered.”
Reacting to the news that Scott had authorized the project, Orlando’s Mayor BuddyDyer said in a statement, “Because of the hard work of so many people in our community, we can now look forward to the beginning of construction on Central Florida’s first commuter rail system within a matter of weeks.” Dyer added that “securing this one-in-a generation project has not been easy.”
The 61-mile SunRail commuter line, estimated to cost $1.2 billion, is projected to create 13,500 new jobs through the construction, operation and maintenance phases and some $1.56 billion in economic benefit. In addition, Transit Oriented Development associated with the commuter rail line is expected to bring more than 245,800 new jobs and $7.1 billion in economic benefit.
“For many years we have had a vision for SunRail as a mechanism to create tens of thousands of jobs for our residents and the critical first step in the effort to give our residents desperately-needed alternatives to their automobiles,” Dyer said. “We are now, finally, poised, to turn this vision a reality.”
For additional information on SunRail and its job creation and economic development impact, go to www.SunRail.com.
