Lakeland, Fla., debates rail-station siting

No decision is expected on the location of the Lakeland-area station for the Florida High Speed Rail until late next year, the Polk County Transportation Planning Organization was told August 12, according to the Lakeland Ledger. Two locations, one near the USF Polytechnic campus that would be built at Interstate 4 and the Polk Parkway and the other Kathleen Road, are being considered.

The train will run along an
84-mile route from downtown Tampa to Orlando International Airport, primarily
in the I-4 median. Trains are expected to begin operating at speeds up to 168
miles per hour by 2015. Plans call for eventually adding a Miami-Orlando leg.

Stan Cann, District 1
secretary for the Florida Department of Transportation, said DOT officials plan
to advertise for proposals next spring for a company that will build and
operate the project. He said the company chosen to build and operate the
high-speed rail would have input into the station’s location because the choice
will affect revenue for the project, which DOT officials want to be
self-supporting. DOT officials will make the final decision, he said.

Income from the project
will include a mixture of revenue from fares as well as from any development
the rail operator can secure from projects around the terminals. For instance,
backers of the USF Poly site have suggested establishing a paid parking area
for airline passengers as an alternative to parking at Orlando International
Airport.

Cann said another aspect is
ridership, explaining that DOT officials are updating ridership projections for
each of the planned stations.

In addition to the Polk
station, stops are planned in downtown Tampa, Walt Disney World, the Orange
County Convention Center and the Orlando airport.

The first phase of the
project will cost $2.6 billion, paid mostly from federal funds. Federal
officials awarded Florida $1.25 billion in stimulus funding earlier this year. Florida
DOT officials are asking for a construction grant from federal officials for
the remainder. Some state matching funds will be required.

On August 12, TPO members
approved sending a letter to the Federal Railroad Administration seeking those
funds.

Cann said DOT’s initial
design work is about 30 percent complete, which will provide enough information
to refine the cost estimates so officials will know how much money to ask
federal transportation officials for to complete the project. Earlier this
month the state did ask the federal government for another $1.1 billion for the
project.

In the meantime, Cann said
DOT officials will be seeking proposals by the end of the year for $100 million
in preliminary work along the route. That work will include construction of a
wall that will separate the rail corridor from I-4 traffic and to look for
anything that might be an obstacle along the route, such as buried utilities,
signs and parts of bridges.

That work is expected to
begin by next April, Cann said, which he said fulfills the job-creation goal
behind the award of the stimulus funds.

Cann said it is likely a
couple of bridges will have to be replaced, though generally the bridges across
I-4 were built with enough clearance for the rail.

"The easy way to
explain the early work is that it will create a clear path down the middle of
I-4," Lakeland Mayor Gow Fields said.