Rick Scott freezes four contracts for SunRail

[thelakelander]

The contracts are considered "critical" by the state Department of Transportation, which is charged with getting the $1.2 billion project up and running.

SunRail supporters had hoped to begin construction by spring, but that date could be in doubt, depending on the length of Scott's review.

Scott's action surprised advocates of the commuter train.

Heather Allebaugh, a spokesman for Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, said city officials did not know of the hold until told by a reporter.

Dyer, in fact, had run a meeting earlier in the day to discuss the status of SunRail and expressed confidence that the train was on schedule for a 2013 startup.

Noreanne Downs, who runs the state Department of Transportation in Central Florida, predicted during the meeting that Scott's office would approve the contracts as early as next week.

full article: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/florida/os-sunrail-contracts-delayed-20110128,0,5174052.story

[peestandingup]

It will probably be killed, but for the wrong reasons.

It really comes down to passengers still needing a car in both of those cities. So instead of riding the train for an hour just to have to rent a car once you get there, I'd personally rather just drive my car & save the hassle.

Fix the transportation infrastructure in the cities FIRST, then worry about connecting them: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/03/22/us/0322RAIL_index.html?ref=highspeedrailprojects

[urbanlibertarian]

Sun Rail and the HSR between Tampa and Orlando are not the same thing.

http://www.sunrail.com

[ChriswUfGator]

I know he didn't understand the difference between HSR and the sunrail project, but he's got a valid point. Our state cannot get away from "Park and Ride" solutions that require you to have a car at either end, and this negates the utility of rail transit. Spend money on streetcars and car-free neighborhood connectivity first, then worry about connectimg the cities. Sun Rail, FWIW, is as guilty of this as anything, most users would have had to drive to the stations and park. Most normal people are just going to say "screw it I may as well just drive the whole way."

[peestandingup]

Sun Rail and the HSR between Tampa and Orlando are not the same thing.

http://www.sunrail.com

I know that, but the projects will co-exist together & be under the same type of scrutiny. Trust me, they'll get to the HSR project & put it under the same microscope too.

The example "test run" of the link I provided should be an eye opener to the fact that we have way bigger fish to fry first, meaning getting real viable public transportation into these cities first. If you don't have that & you don't have a complete end to end solution, then you're not giving people a reason to ditch their cars & they'll just drive the whole way.

I'm not sure how to remedy this, but I do know that they're putting the cart before the horse. Start small with streetcar or light rail connectivity, then move forward from there. Without that, the whole thing is destined to fail. It'll be another Skyway, but on a whole nother level.

[thelakelander]

I know he didn't understand the difference between HSR and the sunrail project, but he's got a valid point. Our state cannot get away from "Park and Ride" solutions that require you to have a car at either end, and this negates the utility of rail transit. Spend money on streetcars and car-free neighborhood connectivity first, then worry about connectimg the cities. Sun Rail, FWIW, is as guilty of this as anything, most users would have had to drive to the stations and park. Most normal people are just going to say "screw it I may as well just drive the whole way."

Even though Sunrail will be commuter rail, its exactly the type of system that is needed to make intercity projects like HSR more viable.  When Sunrail is up and running, Orlando will have a north/south rail spine connecting many destinations and walkable districts together.

[dougskiles]

Fix the transportation infrastructure in the cities FIRST, then worry about connecting them:

No reason why it shouldn't happen at the same time.

[Jumpinjack]

Warning to investor companies on Florida rail projects - think twice before making that bid.

[thelakelander]

Sunrail should be operational before HSR and they already have a decent downtown BRT circulator up and running, so Orlando does look to be on the right track.  Tampa has more work to do.

[yapp1850]

i hope that as  rick scott freezes sunrail he changes the high speed rail so high speed rail comes downtown with sunrail at church st station.

[Ocklawaha]

i hope that as  rick scott freezes sunrail he changes the high speed rail so high speed rail comes downtown with sunrail at church st station.

Its an opportunity to see how intelligent the new Governor really is. Change the HSR plan to the CSX alignment in Orlando and Tampa (at a minimum). Every station on SUNRAIL is already connected to Lynx Bus Transit, which in the last 3 years has surged ahead of JTA to become the 3rd largest in the state. So nobody will have to walk or rent a car, further the downtown already has BRT as the lakelander has stated and there is talk of LIGHT RAIL CONNECTIONS again. Sunrail is only about 1,000 times a better plan then the Florida HSR plan.

BUT... If I were to wager on this, I'd say he'll reroute them both... right...straight...to hell.

[thelakelander]

My guess is everything will eventually move forward as is.  While he delayed these contracts, he did approve the part of the deal that pays CSX.

Last week, Scott released $173 million in state money for CSX, the Jacksonville train company that is selling its tracks to the state for SunRail.

That money will be spent by CSX to improve another rail line it owns and to build a road to a new logistics center in Winter Haven.

[yapp1850]

is there room on the csx route  to add  3 more tracks next to the main line so we can have intercity rail and commuter rail. just like how it is in the northeast.

[thelakelander]

There's room but I doubt that such a switch could be done without losing the $2.4 billion in federal money.

[spuwho]

My guess is everything will eventually move forward as is.  While he delayed these contracts, he did approve the part of the deal that pays CSX.

Last week, Scott released $173 million in state money for CSX, the Jacksonville train company that is selling its tracks to the state for SunRail.

That money will be spent by CSX to improve another rail line it owns and to build a road to a new logistics center in Winter Haven.

Perhaps this is why Scott was out at Jaxport. If the state has paid CSX for ROW, then the CSX plan for Jaxport will proceed.