Mica seeks support for $650M rail project

[thelakelander]

With the U.S. Congress poised to approve a nearly $1 trillion stimulus package and plans in place to begin work on the project that eventually would stretch from DeLand to Poinciana, the timing is right to move forward.

“We’re the only thing standing in our own way,” Mica said.

Despite gaining backing from Gov. Charlie Crist earlier this week, there’s still strong opposition to the project in Polk County. In addition to concerns about increased train traffic, state Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, has criticized the project for benefiting CSX.

However, Mica told Orlando Business Journal the purchase of 61 miles of CSX track has been appraised by two independent firms and represents an investment in the future. Commuter rail represents the only project in 40 years that has the potential to take truck traffic off Interstate 4, Interstate 95 and Interstate 75, he said.

The commuter rail project is important to Central Florida, but is also the key to expanding the system to Jacksonville, Tampa and South Florida.

full article: http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/2009/02/02/daily47.html

[Doctor_K]

And commuter rail takes truck traffic off the interstates how?

[thelakelander]

The track upgrades to CSX's "S" Line and the new Winter Haven yard (both related to this commuter rail project), will increase freight rail capacity throughout the state.

[Doctor_K]

Ahha.  So it serves dual purposes: less freight on the highways and less commuter traffic.

It's a no-brainer.

Thanks for the clarification.

[JeffreyS]

Mica is working hard to get that done.

[thelakelander]

This thing is a big issue in Polk County.  Half the county is for the deal because of the new jobs and industry the proposed railyard will bring.  The other half is upset because they want commuter rail, not extra freight trains bypassing Orlando.

Summit on Rail Issues Rolls Along Smoothly

Lakeland Community Development Director Jim Studiale said Lakeland wants a downtown where people can drive - or even walk - without waiting for trains.

He said the city doesn't want more trains but has nothing against commuter rail.

"We want it to be right here."

full article: http://www.theledger.com/article/20090204/NEWS/902040343

MULBERRY | Memo to state rail planners: Don't mess with Mulberry

If Winter Haven wants more trains, fine, City Commissioner Ted Collins says. "But let them run through Winter Haven - not Mulberry.".....

The state has identified five possible alternate routes that could be used instead of running more freight trains through Lakeland.

In a memo to commissioners recently, Thomas said only the first two alternatives were acceptable to Mulberry.

"We were not happy with alternatives 3, 4 & 5, as they would route up to 11 more trains through Mulberry daily," Thomas wrote.

The city likes alternatives 1 and 2, which both use the 29-mile Van Fleet Trail north of Winter Haven to route trains to the planned rail terminal. The trail was built on what was once tracks and railroad right-of-way.

Alternatives 1 and 2 may make more sense to CSX in getting freight to its rail terminal in Winter Haven. The three alternatives that include Mulberry each add about 20 miles to a current 79-mile CSX S-line trip to Winter Haven. The two Van Fleet routes subtract about 14 miles.

full article: http://www.theledger.com/article/20090204/NEWS/902040336




There is also a new rail opposition website up and running:

http://sunrailcommuter.com/

[thelakelander]

Some of the reply comments to the Lakeland rail stories are pretty funny.  Others show two sides to the story.  Here are a few examples:

posted by Drunk
Right now, there is an underpass on Gary Road, an underpass on North Lake Parker, an overpass on the In-Town Bypass, an underpass on Kathleen Road and another overpass is under construction on the second phase of the In-Town Bypass. Plus, there's an underpass at Five Points.

What more does Lakeland want?

Spending millions of taxpayer dollars to protect their snooty, little Antiques district is a colossal waste of time and money.

Posted by Insight
Lakeland Don't like being pushed around, but they like pushing their will on other people. I have one thing to say to them...
here comes the ChooChooooooooooooo's get use to it.

Posted by Ficklefinger_of_fate
Count me as part of the opposition. This plan benefits the Orlando area only and places an undue burden on areas like Lakeland. The plan reduced freight traffic in Orlando and reroutes through Lakeland and other areas. The effect? The rerouting places the traffic straight through downtown Lakeland (as well as Auburndale and Winter Haven). The end result is this will be pushed through because Orlando politicians have a bigger swing than Lakeland politicans. We in Lakeland will be buried for the benefit of others. So I ask, why should state tax dollars (of which I have contributed to) be used to negatively impact my community and my quality of life? If commuter rail/light rail/whatever is needed, then fine. Craft a plan that does not throw one community under the bus(or train in this case) to unduly benefit another. This is not an issue of being short sighted about transportation needs, this is an issue of doing what's right and fair for ALL citizens of the state, not one select group.

[JeffreyS]

I like that they are going to try to route the increased traffic around Lakeland. Would that make Lakeland a possible future commuter rail addition.

[thelakelander]

If they can do that, it does open the door up for commuter possibilities for connections to both Tampa and Orlando.  Btw, here are a few more rail maps:

Railroad Divides Lakeland

LAKELAND | City commissioners are of two schools of thought in deciding how to achieve their goal of derailing any increases in the number of freight trains traveling through Lakeland's downtown.

One school, the majority, offers honey to leaders in other cities along the Interstate 4 corridor in an effort to attract allies to support a plan that would route freight traffic away from the core of Lakeland and the other cities.

The second school, a two-man minority, is preparing to serve glasses of vinegar.

As for building potential new rail corridors, CSX is not interested...

In a $723,000 study started in May, FDOT identified five alternate routes that would bring freight to Winter Haven without traveling through downtown Lakeland.

The cost for each alternate route will be available in May, said Stan Cann, the District 1 FDOT boss. Some routes would be more expensive than others, depending upon how much track is already in place and how much right of way needs to be bought.

Gary Sease, a spokesman for CSX, said any new freight line corridor for CSX has to make business sense before the company will agree to use it. "And we're not going to pay for it," he said. "We have perfectly good freight lines right now."

The state can study alternate routes all it wants, put price tags on those routes and, with funding from the Legislature, build one of those routes, Cann said.

"But there's no point in building it if CSX ain't going to use it."

full article: http://www.theledger.com/article/20090117/NEWS/901170349#

[Ocklawaha]

Gary Sease, a spokesman for CSX, said any new freight line corridor for CSX has to make business sense before the company will agree to use it. "And we're not going to pay for it," he said. "We have perfectly good freight lines right now."

The state can study alternate routes all it wants, put price tags on those routes and, with funding from the Legislature, build one of those routes, Cann said.

"But there's no point in building it if CSX ain't going to use it."

If FDOT rebuilds the track on options one or two, Wildwood - Auburndale, it would serve as a division point for Amtrak trains. Wildwood is a natural division point and served as such until the CSX took out the Wildwood (Croom) to Auburndale segment. This forced all trains over to Lakeland, pretty far west if one is going to Miami! The idea that this wouldn't be used is lame at best because the Florida Amtrak Service (whatever we call it) would use Wildwood like a mini-Jacksonville to break down trains for both coasts. Freight might not use it, but I think once back in place, you'll see CSX come crawling up with a story, "You know fella's we COULD use that as a short cut between our Miami-West Palm Segment and Jacksonville, If y'all aren't too busy with Amtrak, could we lease some time slots"? YEAH! SUCH A DEAL I'LL MAKE FOR YOU!

OCKLAWAHA

[thelakelander]

The Wildwood-Auburndale segment is a no-brainer, imo.  It should have never been taken up and turned into a paved trail to begin with.  However, it looks like if it is to be rebuilt, taxpayers will have to fund it 100%.

[Ocklawaha]

Croom (Wildwood) to Auburndale

Your right Lake, Taking this section of our former Mainlines off the map was criminal neglect on the part of our state regulators. A 5Th grader could have seen the logic in keeping this in place, but whoever said the State was smarter then a 5Th grader?

There are a couple of other BONE-HEADED abandonments that were allowed over the years and with or without freight customers, those tracks could have been saved in a process called "Rail Banking". Here are a couple of others for y'all to chew on:

1.) Gainesville to Mattox (Baldwin W.)
1. )Gainesville to Archer
2. )Gainesville to Lowell (Ocala N.)
1. )Hernando (Inverness N.) to Stafford (Brooksville N.)
3. )Wildwood to Tavares (the Florida Stimulus plan has $$ in it to rebuild the bridge over the Dora Canal? So maybe there is life in this yet)
4. )Bartow to West Lake Wales
5. )Lake City to Lake Butler / Hawthorne
6. )Kingsland GA. to Savannah Ga.
7. )Croom to Auburndale
8. )Ocala to Palatka

1. )Cut the opportunity for a true West Coast Alternative route between Jacksonville and Tampa, including all of the new growth Between Tampa and Dunnellon.
2. )Cut the chance of through Amtrak or State passenger trains running between Jacksonville-(Gainesville)-Ocala-Wildwood-Tampa, leaving Gainesville out of the picture completely.
3. )Cut the possible split of trains between the North and Miami via the Central Florida (Ocala) route, splitting and sending a section directly to an Orlando Terminal over the Florida Central Railroad.
4. )This one is a no brainer too, it cut our shortest route between Miami-West Palm-West Lake Wales-Bartow-Tampa, thus forcing all trains to run north of Winter Haven to Auburndale, adding needless time and movements.
5. )A branchline to be sure, but IF the Mattox-Lake Butler-Gainesville segment was replaced, this offers the only alternative route out of the heart of Florida without passing through Jacksonville Terminal. It also opens a second route via the CSX "S" line from Central Florida to Atlanta via Hawthorne. "Think national security, and ONE atomic warhead".
6. )Perhaps one of the dumbest of all abandonments, this was the former Seaboard Mainline between
Savannah and Jacksonville. That same track that runs from Springfield North to Bush, Yulee, Kingsland etc...
then suddenly a huge gap in the old line. Watch for this to become the route of future HIGH SPEED RAIL as it is the shortest route between the two East Coast Cities.
7. )Subject of our discussion, this is THE cut-off between the former Seaboard, todays CSX "S" mainline in North Central Florida to South Florida. It was abandoned for 2 reasons really (but they'll never tell). 1. Freight doesn't care if it's routed to Lakeland or Albuquerque before reaching it's destination, so why keep two tracks. 2. By cutting the shorter cut-off out of the map, they kept the slightly more densly populated route through Dade City, in the process they created a huge operations problem for Amtrak, which will forever discourage them from using the "S" again.
8. )The entire OCKLAWAHA VALLEY RAILROAD between Palatka and Ocala via Silver Springs and Orange Springs. Okay, I'm only sort of kidding here, but this little railroad gone since 1923, would have become a feather-weight golden gloves champ by the end of WWII. Maybe the most prime industrial and warehouse route ever laid out on a shortline. Besides who can argue with a Railroad named OCKLAWAHA?

That's my view, anyone got any additions?


OCKLAWAHA

[Ocklawaha]

Even if Tallahassee and City Hall are certified Brain Dead, it's nice to know there are still a few places on earth where the glory days of the SEABOARD AIR LINE RAILROAD and all the others live on... Even if it is only for a few hours at a time. Hee Hee.

OCKLAWAHA

[JeffreyS]

Here is another website against the Orlando Commuter rail.
http://www.wrongtrack4florida.com/

[FayeforCure]

With the U.S. Congress poised to approve a nearly $1 trillion stimulus package and plans in place to begin work on the project that eventually would stretch from DeLand to Poinciana, the timing is right to move forward.

“We’re the only thing standing in our own way,” Mica said.

From the article.
This is misleading as Florida did not submit any rail projects to be included in the stimulus plan. Here is everything submitted for the state:
http://www.floridatoday.com/assets/pdf/A91248461222.PDF