Railroad stations are right on track
Workers push to have Fort Lauderdale facility ready by late 2016
FORT LAUDERDALE — There’s a new norm along the railroad tracks north of Broward Boulevard: the sight of work crews in hard hats and the sound of bulldozers.
The foundation is taking shape for All Aboard Florida’s new 60,000-square-foot Fort Lauderdale passenger rail station. About 30 workers are on the site daily, with 100 expected in the coming months as work ramps up.
More than 80 piles have been drilled 45 feet in the ground along the east side of the tracks, supporting what will become an 800-foot-long platform and a modernistic elevated passenger lounge with views of downtown.
It’s a similar scene in downtown West Palm Beach, where a station is rising between Evernia and Datura streets. In Miami, construction is taking place on a much bigger scale. More than 1,600 piles have been driven more than 100 feet for the base of a massive elevated station on an 11-acre site near the old Miami Arena.
All of the stations are targeted for completion in late 2016, with service beginning in 2017 from Miami to West Palm Beach. Trains will begin running to Orlando later in 2017.
In Fort Lauderdale, workers are building a third track from north of Southwest Second Street to north of Andrews Avenue so freight trains can bypass the construction by late July or August. Then the existing two tracks will be rebuilt with a 35-foot gap for an “island style” platform to be installed
between them.
The signature V-shaped trusses and columns that will be at all three South Florida stations will be cast on site, then erected in October. A 500-space parking garage will go up this fall.
Other signs of progress include:
A new perimeter road is being built on the west side of the tracks from Northwest Second to Northwest Fourth streets. The road, an extension of Northwest Second Avenue, will become the entrance to the station. It should open by the end of 2015.
A new building at Northwest Fourth Street is under construction just west of the tracks. It will house a catering business being forced to relocate. All Aboard Florida purchased its site off Northwest Second Street just east of the tracks and plans to eventually move the bus terminal on a larger adjacent parcel.
14 trees in the way of the new station were removed and transplanted at the edge of a townhome community next to the tracks.
By late August, safety upgrades at crossings will begin, along with construction of a second track. The upgrades will allow munici- palities from Miami to West Palm Beach to qualify as quiet zones where train horns can be banned. The quiet zones were not affected by Gov. Rick Scott’s veto this week of $10 million for crossing work statewide.
“Ending the horns will be a plus,” said Darrin Leto, who recently moved to the Flagler Heights neighborhood.
He said inconveniences, such as the permanent closure of the crossing at Northwest Second Street, will be worth it if the station helps transform the surrounding area that’s currently home to older buildings, vacant lots and small businesses.
The track work is expected to happen at a quick pace because the track bed and bridges already exist from the early ’70s, when the Florida East Coast Railway had two tracks through most of South Florida
“We’re not starting from scratch by a long shot,” said All Aboard Florida President Michael Reininger. “In a lot of cases, we’re putting back something that was already there or improving something that’s already there.”
All Aboard Florida plans to run 32 trains a day from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, offering a trip from Fort Lauderdale to Orlando lasting two hours and 20 minutes. A study in May projected 1 million riders in its first year, jumping to 5.3 million by 2020 and 7 million by 2030.
More trains mean downtown commuters will face additional waits at crossings but officials say the shorter passenger trains will pass through crossings in about 52 seconds.