High-speed rail feared to take precedence over boats
FORT LAUDERDALE — West of the FEC railroad bridge, right in the heart of downtown, sits the bulk of Broward County’s yacht refitting and boat repair yards.
Mega-yachts and commercial vessels like the Jungle Queen pass through the 40-year-old New River Railroad Bridge, which stands open most of the time. When it’s closed, boat traffic completely halts in the area near Andrews Avenue.
For months, plans for a private high-speed passenger rail service that would likely disrupt boat traffic has many in the marine industry and residents predicting dire consequences.
“If this thing goes through as planned, it will kill the marine industry in Broward County, no exaggeration,” said Steve Baum, owner of Boat Owners Warehouse / D.S. Hull Company, Inc. “Because that bridge will be in the down position more often than not, effectively making the river unnavigable anywhere to the west, where most of our shipyards are.”
All Aboard Florida, a subsidiary of Florida East Coast Industries (FECI), is borrowing about $1.5 billion from the federal government to develop the rail service. The tracks — originally charted by Henry Flagler — would link Miami to Orlando. The service is projected to be up and running by 2015, said spokeswoman Ali Soule.
Baum said the bridge would also serve a large in- crease in freight traffic over the next two years from Port Everglades and the Port of Miami, thanks to the ongoing expansion of the Panama Canal and upgrades to both ports.
“And really, that’s the real concern, the freight service,” he said. “All Aboard Florida is just one component of what promises to be a huge impact on our county. Now Tri Rail is talking about using it as well. This really could spell doom for this industry.”
All the concern has led to a grass roots opposition to the AAF plan. A petition initiated by local resident Mary Sessions asks to “stop All Aboard Florida from using the existing FEC train tracks.” So far the petition has about 800 signatures. There’s also a Facebook page, “Save the New River Ft. Lauderdale” and an accompanying website.
Kim McDonald, owner of McDonald's Hardware, Inc., which depends heavily on the marine industry for its business, called the AAF plan “really scary.”
“You’re talking about the main artery [the New River] into the world’s most important yachting center,” she said. “You close that down and you kill it.”
John Dotto lives on the New River about a quarter mile south of the Davie Boulevard bridge and has a 26- foot Glacier Bay boat that he uses frequently. He sees the kind of private and commercial vessel traffic that goes through the channel under the FEC bridge every day.
“When that bridge, which is old, low and slow, goes down, nothing is getting through there, not even a kayak,” Dotto said. “And it takes a long time to cycle through each time, as much as 20 minutes, easily.”
Dotto, who opposes the current plan, has made a point of educating himself about the project.
“Not only will this affect the marine industry, but it will have a major negative impact on the people who live around here, with all those high-speed trains rumbling through here all the time,” Dotto said. “I don't think this is going to be good for anybody.”
Spokeswoman Soule said that All Aboard Florida “recognizes the importance of the marine industry in Broward County and has been working closely with many of the community’s stakeholders since the project started last year.” She added that AAF “will continue to engage and coordinate with one of Broward County’s largest employment sectors and economic generators as the intercity passenger rail project progresses to con- struction and operation.”
Baum said a recent environmental impact study “mysteriously left the New River out.” A new study is expected in June, Baum said.
Many critics of the current plan propose instead an elevated track with a much higher drawbridge that would remain in the down position. Trains could pass and the bridge would only need to open for large yachts with vertical clear- ances greater than 30 feet.
“That would go a long way toward fixing this,” Baum said. “We are the yachting capital of the world, but if they don’t build a higher bridge and just use that antiquated bridge, we’re going to lose that distinction. The yachts will go somewhere else.”
In April, representatives of All Aboard Florida and FECI held a meeting with the Marine Industries Association of South Florida to hear concerns from people in the industry.
“They gave a presentation and lis- tened to us,” Baum said. “And there was a lot of head nodding and assurances that everything would be ok, but honestly, I got the impression that they’re just placating us.”
Not everybody in the marine industry is talking gloom and doom.
Gene Douglas, vice president for Bradford Marine, also attended the April meeting. He said he was “cautiously optimistic” that a compromise that would benefit both sides could be reached.
“I don't know if the AAF plan would kill the industry here, as some have suggested,” Douglas said. “But it would certainly have a negative impact as currently projected. What I think is that we need this issue to be studied a lot more, and a lot more data needs to be looked at and disseminated. We need to focus on all of the facts and develop a win-win situation. I’m not pessimistic about this, though. I think a solution can be achieved.”
Douglas also favors a “faster, higher and manned bridge.”
“I think they’re going to need to look harder at this thing and at all the facets of it,” he said. “As for all the jobs, that’s a major impact. This is a significant workforce of craftsmen and specialists who depend on this industry thriving. These are your friends and neighbors, the people who buy groceries and support the local economy.”
Phil Purcell, executive director of the Marine Industries Association of South Florida, said he’s “seen nothing but cooperation” so far between AAF, FECI and the marine industry.
“Right now, our focus is on working with them, and they’ve done nothing to betray our trust,” Purcell said. “My philosophy is either you’re at the table or you’re on the menu. We choose to be at the table.”
Purcell said the MIASF will continue to work together with AAF.
“Of course, we’re not going to let a train derail our marine industry,” he said. “But we’re professionals and we think there's a way we can all coexist, so long as we work together.”
Purcell said he thought an elevated bridge was a great idea, but that such a solution at this point was “purely hypothetical.”
“We need to focus on the bridge that's there now, because that's what we’ve got,” he said.
Baum said he’s been doing as much research as he can on the matter and crunching numbers.
“All Aboard Florida says they’re going to have two passenger trains coming through every hour, 16 times per day, seven days per week,” he said. “That in and of itself is going have a major impact.
“Right now, we have 14 freight trains per day coming through there, but that amount could easily triple within the next two years as we see all those Panamax freighters coming into Port of Miami and Port Everglades. Honestly, I don't know how they think they’re going to make this work.”
But Purcell said the numbers he's seen indicate that with passenger and freight train service combined, the FEC Bridge would only be closed 26 minutes of every hour.
“I do think we can work together with AAF and FECI and hammer out a so- lution that works for everybody.”