The federal government Monday awarded $25 million to South Florida’s Brightline railway to improve safety along some of the most dangerous tracks in the country.
The total price tag for the initiative will be $45 million after $10 million from the privately run rail line and another $10 million from the Florida Department of Transportation.
“Regardless of the capacity, regardless of the number of trains running through, we’ve got to have a safe environment for passengers and freight to move through,” said Patrick Goddard, president of Brightline.
NBC 6 Investigators reported earlier how drivers and pedestrians consistently move onto the tracks when the train comes, causing 85 accidents since 2018, killing 27 people, and injuring 30 others.
Get South Florida local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC South Florida newsletters.
Broward County nearly doubles Miami-Dade and Palm Beach in deaths, injuries, and total collisions, according to a collision database from the Federal Railroad Administration.
“These safety grants are critical. These dollars will help save lives,” said Michael Udine, the mayor of Broward County.
Brightline and the Florida Department of Transportation jointly applied for the grant.
Local
The county mayors from Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach were present at the announcement Monday along with Congressmembers Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, and Mario Diaz Balart.
The money will help pay for roadway paintings and warning signs near crossings, raised pavement markers like the plastic cylinders drivers see separating interstate express lanes to prevent people from leaving their lanes, and 33 miles of fencing to prevent trespassers from moving onto the tracks. New suicide hotline signs will also be posted, hoping to prevent people from laying on the tracks to kill themselves.
The projects are expected to be completed by the end of 2023. Also in that year, the company plans to complete its nearly $3 billion extension from South Florida to Orlando.
“We want for Brightline to be in the news for all the right reasons. Unfortunately, there has been too many incidents,” said Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat from Weston.
Infrastructure bill boosts existing program
The $25 million came from the RAISE (Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity) program, which began in 2009. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, the bipartisan infrastructure bill signed by President Joe Biden last year pumped $7.5 billion into regional RAISE grants.
The $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act doubled the RAISE budget this year, according to the Department. The larger pot of money allowed for more projects to be funded.
South Florida Republican members of Congress and Florida Senators Rick Scott and Marco Rubio voted against the transportation infrastructure bill in Congress. The Senators did support the specific RAISE project according to a press release from the company.
Rep. Mario Diaz Balart was at the Monday announcement and tells NBC 6 he voted against the $1.2 trillion bill because, in his view, too much of it went to projects outside of traditional infrastructure like roads, trains, and ports. After the bill passed, however, Diaz Balart has a key position as a ranking member of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee overseeing and approving the expanded funds.
“I’ve been able to work on issues to bring back a ton of money,” said Rep. Diaz Balart, “I’m in a position and have been for a number of years to actually make a huge difference in those decisions that have brought billions of dollars to South Florida.”
As members of the appropriations committee, representatives Diaz Balart and Wasserman Schultz are key in deciding where the money goes and say they worked together to direct funding to South Florida.
“We really work behind the scenes together to make sure that we can get the resources that we need here,” said Rep. Wasserman Schultz.
The grant money covers 328 roadway crossings along the east coast of Florida on the Florida East Coast railway line.
For the past year, the Federal Railroad Administration has been holding meetings with community members and law enforcement officials trying to encourage safety. Several agencies, including the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, launched specific operations to ticket drivers who go around the barricades onto the tracks.
“We’re relentless about safety and are constantly seeking new ways to mitigate the behaviors we are seeing along the corridor,” said Goddard, president of Brightline. “The engineering solutions made possible by the RAISE grant combined with our ongoing education campaign will go a long way in promoting safety.”
Brightline runs from downtown Miami to downtown West Palm Beach with a stop in between in downtown Fort Lauderdale. The high-speed trains can reach speeds faster than 70 miles per hour.
