Delray jumps aboard as participant in FEC passenger rail study

By DALE KING
DELRAY BEACH
Posted Tuesday, 24 March 2009
 
The city of Delray Beach has decided to get on board the South Florida East Coast Railway Corridor Transit Analysis.

The Delray Beach City Commission last week voted to become "a participating agency in Phase 2" of the study by submitting the appropriate designation form.

Consultants from Gannett Fleming are studying ways of bringing passenger rail service back to the Florida East Coast Railway line, that is now mainly a single track carrying freight between downtown Miami and Jupiter. FEC passenger service ended in 1968.

Consultants held meetings in Boca Raton and Delray Beach during February to update residents on the progress of restoring passenger rail service. Those were two of a dozen meetings held in communities traversed by the FEC rails.

As explained by Delray Beach City Manager Dave Harden in a memo to the commission, "In December 2005, the Florida Department of Transportation began a study of the Florida East Coast Railway corridor as a possible passenger service corridor."

"The goals of this project include reduced roadway congestion and improved mobility," he said.

Flagler’s Rails

Proponents also say the FEC line – created by famed industry mogul Henry Morrison Flagler – is also located closer to the coastline and, as such, passes through many downtown areas along its 85-mile route. Consultants see this as providing easier access from the rail line to downtown retail centers, restaurants and the beach.

The FEC is located much further east than the CSX line, which is currently being used by Tri-Rail, Amtrak and CSX freight traffic. Harden explained to commissioners that "Phase 2 will provide a detailed environmental screening report addressing the short list of environmental alternatives identified in Phase 1. Phase 2 will also identify one ore more proposed actions in the study corridor" "Delray was identified as an agency that may have an interest in this project," he said.

But do project consultants have an interest in Delray Beach?

Consultant Sue Gibbons told the Boca Raton News at the Boca meeting that they have identified 96 sites as possible station locations. Not all will be selected, she said, and not all stations will be the same. The size and configuration will match the location – downtown, rural, neighborhood, business park or park-and-ride, for example.

Depot Sites

Gibbons said seven depot sites have been eyed in Boca – on Hidden Valley Boulevard, Jeffery Street, Yamato Road, 20th Street, Glades Road, Palmetto Park Road and Camino Real. Yet Delray has yielded only two possible sites – on Atlantic Avenue and Linton Boulevard.

Being a designated agency in the Phase 2 study, Harden said, will give Delray a voice in the process. Among the things that can be done are:

• Provide meaningful and early input on refining the purpose and need, determining the range of alternatives to be considered, and the methodologies and level of detail required in the alternatives analysis.
• Participate in coordinated meetings, conference calls and joint field reviews as appropriate.
• Timely review and comment on the pre-draft or pre-final environmental documents to reflect the views and concerns of the city on the adequacy of the document, alternatives and anticipated impacts and mitigation.