If everybody agrees on a federally funded plan to build five east-west tunnels beneath the Florida East Coast Railway tracks in Fort Lauderdale, they will be for cars, too, officials clarified on Friday.
Earlier this week, the Biden Administration announced $3.3 billion in transportation-oriented grants designed to improve connections in more than 40 states.
The Broward County Metropolitan Organization, which helps plan and obtain federal funding for improvements in 31 county towns and cities, received $1.5 million to study the tunnel idea and set the stage to obtain federal funds to build them. The City of Fort Lauderdale is contributing $375,000 to the planning effort.
At an MPO board meeting on Thursday, local government leaders were told that the tunnels would not only provide safe routes beneath the tracks for bicyclists and pedestrians, but also for motorists as well.
Ultimately, the ground-level railroad grade crossings would be eliminated, Gregory Stuart, the MPO executive director, told the Sun Sentinel.
He said each tunnel would contain six lanes to accommodate cars, bikes and people.
Eliminating conflicts
“It’s basically getting rid of any of the conflict at the grade with the railroad,” Stuart said. “In effect, the crossings would go away. It’s eliminating risks, and providing connectivity. It does so many things.”
Stuart said the study funded by the grant would take roughly 18 months to complete. If various governing agencies and the Florida East Coast Railway approve, an application for funding could be made by 2026.
Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis said the city received a separate $950,000 grant several month ago from the U.S. Department of Transportation that would also study connectivity to cover “a broader scope of inquiry than this particular (MPO) grant.”
“We are happy to work with the MPO,” he said. “We probably will have our own consultants and experts and hopefully we’ll get to the same place.”
But Trantalis emphasized that the connectivity discussions “should not in any way distract from the city’s intent on ensuring there be a tunnel instead of a bridge” over the New River for Brightline trains and for a proposed commuter line now under development.
The city and county, the latter of which prefers a bridge, have been at loggerheads over the means for upgrading a river crossing to accommodate more passenger train traffic while not interrupting the pace of FEC’s freight service, which would remain above ground.