As Brightline nears Orlando launch, new drawbridge rules should keep high-speed trains moving

As recently as June, a U.S. Coast Guard plan to force a drawbridge to remain open for longer periods of time over the Okeechobee Waterway near Stuart prompted Brightline officials to worry that its new rail extension to Orlando could be slowed to a crawl.

But now the Coast Guard, which by law regulates the bridge’s operation, is offering a new set of temporary operating procedures designed to satisfy the access needs of marine interests, Brightline and the Florida East Coast Railway, the latter of which owns the drawbridge.

The Coast Guard disclosed a new temporary operating plan — dubbed a “temporary deviation” — through a notice in the Federal Register on Friday. Deviations are essentially test periods designed to allow the Coast Guard to analyze the impact of new procedures before it imposes a final operating schedule for the bridge.

“The Coast Guard is adhering to the regulatory process established by Congress for the regulation of bridges and waterways, and we will continue to be transparent in the process,” said Rear Admiral Douglas M. Schofield, commander of the Seventh Coast Guard District, in a statement. “We are engaged with the many stakeholders who have a vested interest in the final rulemaking for a bridge operating schedule, which includes the boating public, elected officials who represent the constituents in the communities most likely to be impacted, as well as Brightline and Florida East Coast Railway, amongst others.”

For Brightline, the higher speed rail service that currently serves five South Florida cities, the new hours are apparently more palatable than a schedule imposed earlier this summer by the Coast Guard.

Although the rail line last week delayed the Sept. 1 opening of its high-speed 170-mile extension to Orlando from West Palm Beach, citing certification issues, no one attributed the delay to a continuing dispute with the Coast Guard over the bridge’s operating procedures.

The bridge has been a “pain point” for Brightline as it built out its multibillion dollar extension, according to one marine industry executive. A protracted public debate over the bridge’s operations included U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, who championed marine and other local business interests over those of the railroads. Mast could not be reached for comment Friday.

But the two rail operators suggested in a statement that the parties are closer to a consensus today than just two months ago..

“The new temporary deviation is the result of several parties working together for the good of the region and the good of the state,” Brightline and the FEC said in a joint statement. “Ultimately, the revision will allow mariners to have more than equal access to the waterway while allowing for successful movement of passenger and freight trains. We’re already working with federal, state and local partners to accelerate the schedule for a new bridge.”

But in June, the rail lines denounced a previous Coast Guard test program as “deeply flawed,” unsafe and “impossible for freight and passenger railroad operations to comply.” Among other things, the program called for the bridge to open “on signal at the quarter and three-quarter hour and remain open until all vessels requiring or requesting an opening have cleared, except any open period shall not exceed 15 minutes.”

It remained unclear Friday what factors led to the railroads’ change of mind.

In a telephone interview, Justin Beard, executive director of the Marine Industries Association of the Treasure Coast, said his group is satisfied that marine interests are being taken seriously.

‘What the marine industry is pleased to see is that this process of coming up with a set schedule is being followed by the numbers,” Beard said. “The Coast Guard is doing their due diligence to ensure that whatever permanent schedule they come up with is something that is going to be fair to everybody and that’s all we can ask for.”

The new rules are scheduled to start Tuesday and run through Dec. 17, the Coast Guard said. Among the key points:

•  “A more predictable schedule.” The span will be open to marine traffic “at least 50 percent of the time during daytime operations (6 a.m. to 10 p.m.),” the Coast Guard said, and “allow for reasonable usage of competing modes of transportation.”
• The bridge will stay “in the fully open-to-navigation position, except during periods when it is closed for the passage of train traffic, to conduct inspections, and to perform maintenance and repairs authorized by the Coast Guard.”
• “The bridge will not be closed for more than 50 consecutive minutes in any given hour during daytime operations (6 a.m. to 10 p.m.) and for more than 8 total hours during daytime operations (6 a.m. to 10 p.m.).”
• Notwithstanding the above, “the bridge will open and remain open to navigation for a fixed 10-minute period at the top of each hour from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.”
• In the event of operational failures or other emergencies, the FEC must notify the Coast Guard at PortMiami and provide an estimated time for repairs and a return to normal operations.
• A bridge tender must be present daily from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.,  monitoring radio channels  and providing boaters with  operational information on request.
• The FEC must maintain a mobile app that provides opening times, schedule updates, and “impacts due to emergency circumstances, inspections, maintenance, and repairs authorized by the Coast Guard.”
• Signs should list VHF radio contact information, application information, and the tender’s telephone number.
• A logbook will chronicle the dates and times of each closing and opening.

“We like the fact the bridge shall not be closed more than 50 minutes,” Beard said. “A bridge closing shouldn’t last longer than 50 minutes.”

The rules are critical, Beard said, for a waterway whose traffic is growing and is the only continuous thoroughfare in the state for vessels to cross from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf Coast. The only alternate route is to loop around the Florida Keys.

According to a 2014 study conducted by the nonprofit Florida Inland Navigation District in Martin County, an average of 250 boats passed the drawbridge daily. Beard believes that number has increased to 300.

“Post pandemic or during the pandemic recreational boating has been so popular and in demand that the number of registered boaters continue to rise and boat sales continue to rise,” he said.

Moreover, the concentration of businesses that serve the marine industry mirrors Fort Lauderdale as most of the marinas, boat repair yards and sales firms are located to west of the railroad tracks.

“The true test (of the Coast Guard rules) is going to be when we hit peak season in usage for that bridge, which is in the winter time, and what is going to be peak usage for Brightline at the same time,” Beard said.

“We’re still waiting to see how Brightline Is going to be able to run the full schedule of the trains while accommodating boat traffic and sticking to the schedule,” he said.

“They’ve done high-speed testing,” Beard added. “And Brightline has given a heads up to the community as to where they’re going to be running their trains. They have a text alert system. They are putting information out there so they’ve been good about that.”

Status quo in Fort Lauderdale?

In downtown Fort Lauderdale, where Brightline and Florida East Coast trains use a drawbridge to pass over the New River, a timetable set by the Coast Guard calls for the bridge to open for 10 minutes at the top of each hour.

“We’ve since asked for 20 minutes versus 10,” said Phil Purcell, president and CEO of the Marine Industries Association of South Florida.

Currently, 36 Brightline trains cross the bridge daily — 18 in each direction. Those are the numbers currently in play under a contract with the Coast Guard, he said. But it’s unclear if it will change when Brightline starts its Orlando service.

“Until they start running it’s really hard to know,” Purcell said.

He said that for the long-term future, the association is interested in seeing a 40-foot bridge that would rise above the river in the interest of minimizing bridge closures. The current bridge in Fort Lauderdale has a 4-foot clearance over the river when closed.

For the marine industry interests, the goal is predictability, no matter where the trains cross.

“They’re dependent on a bridge that works in a manner that allows them to put a client in a boat and he can use it when he wants to go use it. It’s pretty simple,” Purcell said. “That’s all the boating community needs — a schedule that’s fair and balanced.”