With Central Florida leaders collectively holding their breaths for potentially historic federal funding to expand passenger rail in conjunction with Brightline Trains, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has offered promising remarks that the region is in the right direction.
Speaking to the Orlando Sentinel Friday morning, Buttigieg said the department has already signaled its recognition of the region’s infrastructure needs and potential, including with a $50 million grant for Orlando International Airport’s newly opened Terminal C, where the secretary will meet later Friday with local U.S. Reps. Val Demings and Darren Soto.
“We know that Central Florida is a region where travel and tourism is not a luxury but an economic lifeline,” Buttigieg said, adding that travel challenges extend beyond the airport’s capabilities.
“Part of it also means making sure you have the surface side connected up well, and the U.S. as a general rule has not had the best transit connections into airports and we really need to change that to make sure we are getting the most economic value out of our airports,” Buttigieg said.
A Central Florida coalition of counties, Orlando, the Florida Department of Transportation, Brightline Trains, Universal Orlando and others are collaborating on an ambitious plan for public and private investment to extend commuter and Brightline rail from the airport to International Drive and theme-park stations — and, for Brightline, along Interstate 4 to a Tampa station.
That expansion would mean connecting with the existing SunRail commuter-rail corridor that links four counties, running 62 miles from DeBary in the north to near Poinciana to the south. It would mean also for Brightline achieving its cross-Florida corridor from Miami to Orlando to Tampa.
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Two major developments are critical for that vision, local leaders say: Orange County voters approving a penny hike in sales tax in November and the U.S. Department of Transportation through its rail and transit agencies providing matching grants.
Local officials have ballparked the expansion vision as costing $6 billion, with federal agencies potentially underwriting half of the project.
“I obviously can’t speak to any applications that have come in, but I know there is a very strong vision here with what they want to do with transit broadly and Brightline specifically,” Buttigieg said.
The transportation secretary said that when regions apply for highly competitive transportation infrastructure funding from his department, those requests are evaluated on several levels, including their safety implications, ability to support a local economy and other aspects.
He noted that Brightline and the airport already have won significant federal grants for safety and design work and for Terminal C expansion.
“It reflects very well on the project sponsors that they have successfully competed for federal funds,” Buttigieg said.
kspear@orlandosentinel.com