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All Aboard Florida reaches agreement to build along highway
Great news! This project is so exciting to watch develop!
Though I am sure the All Aboard Florida people know what they are doing, I am a bit confused as to why 200 feet needs to be bought from the Mormon ranch through which the Beachline expressway runs. In other words: If the railroad plans on buying a 200 foot strip from the ranch, why is the toll road easement needed? I am not criticizing, just confused.
@JEFFREY - the lease the State negotiated with the ranch in order to build their expressway only allows a road to be built through it, not a railroad. The ranch has been demanding a say in how AAF operates ever since it became clear they’d have this leverage, which I suspect is why they plan to buy the land.
(It isn’t clear to me from the article if it’s the State or the FEC that plans to buy the land BTW)
I interpret it as the state will buy the land. The toll authority doesn’t want AAF impeding it’s future expansion, so it’s going to buy 200 feet more in order to give AAF right-of-way space w/o hindering the tollway. This will also give tollway room to expand in the future.
All of this is incredibly fascinating. To this former Floridian who travels by rail as often as possible, I salute AAF’s progress and look forward to the future when, hopefully, a Democratic governor won’t stand in the way of a connection from Tampa. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, AAF seems to be making some positive moves…
Go up! Modular bridge construction, no EPA hassles, no crash intrusions, no more footprint. Just sayin.
Once the rail line is built and running, I doubt the toll road will widen the road unless land is sold off to developers to build caSINos, amusement parks, or megamalls full of big box stores. I hope the land stays as is so visitors can see the beauty of Florida’s agriculture industry. A rail line should be able to negate the need to widen the toll road until the later half of this century.
Good job picking up on this story so early TRAINS. Finally a concerted effort to break news on the most exciting passenger rail project in America. Won’t cost tax payers (federal or state) a cent but will provide great service with over a dozen round trips daily. Just in time for all the condo development in South Florida.
My hope (and it’s a hope, I’m not wildly optimistic) is that assuming this is successful (and it should be), CSX and other currently passenger-sceptic railroads, will look at where they can duplicate the model.
There’s no good reason for them not to. The FEC are looking at Acela as their example of how this can work, and almost all the major railroads have rights of way to major cities that can usefully be connected. The serious barriers are the States, with anti-rail property tax regimes, and the bureaucracy and mindless regulations at the Fed level.
GOOD