High Speed Rail Announcement in Tampa on Thursday from Obama, Biden & Crist?

[thelakelander]

All those green lines are hot air, imo.

[fsujax]

^^^Yes they are. Thanks to the Duval/Northeast Florida delegation and FDOT.

[vicupstate]

What the point of the Turnpike (Purple) line?

[tufsu1]

What the point of the Turnpike (Purple) line?

there are two potential routes to get from Orlando to Miami...one uses the Beachline Expwy to I-95....the other uses the Turnpike.

and the reality is there could be a combination option....use the Turnpike and then move onto I-95 where they cross in Martin County

[thelakelander]

From my view, it would be better to directly connect Orlando with Port Canaveral.  People actually commute daily between the two, so you could gain some everyday riders.  Going through Yeehaw Junction and orange groves may get you to the end points faster but you would miss out on the populated east coast.

[thelakelander]

It looks like Florida will get up to $1.3 billion.

President Barack Obama is coming to Tampa on Thursday to announce that Florida will get about half of the $2.6 billion in federal cash it wants to build a high-speed train linking Orlando and Tampa.

Florida likely is in line for between $1.25 and $1.4 billion for the 85-mile project, according to officials in Washington and Florida.

The White House confirmed that a total of $8 billion will be handed out to Florida and 12 other places for fast trains but no single grant will be for more than half of the original request. That would put Florida at $1.3 billion.

If the award is in the $1.3 billion range, the money could be used to build an initial leg, from the airport to Disney, or to lay the groundwork for the entire Tampa-Orlando route. Ultimately, the state would also like to run a high-speed train to Miami.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-high-speed-announcement-20100127,0,4321977.story

[tufsu1]

From my view, it would be better to directly connect Orlando with Port Canaveral.  People actually commute daily between the two, so you could gain some everyday riders.  Going through Yeehaw Junction and orange groves may get you to the end points faster but you would miss out on the populated east coast.

ahh...but Yeehaw Junction is the location of the future city of Destiny...look it up 

[reednavy]

Confirmed he'll be there for the groundbreaking announcement tomorrow in TPA.