Broward lets Wave roll — with caveats

Broward County commissioners decided not to put the brakes on downtown Fort Lauderdale’s Wave streetcar project Tuesday, despite concerns over its growing costs.

They agreed to allow the state to seek new construction proposals for the $195.3 million project — if Fort Lauderdale’s city commission and its Downtown Development Authority renew their commitments to the project.

Opposition has been growing to the 2.8-mile downtown loop and its perceived outdated technology of light-rail streetcars, which look more like trains than trolleys. Supporters still look forward to a day when the Wave will be a major mode of transporta-

tion taking people to the airport and Port Everglades and carrying western county residents to their jobs downtown.

“There are people in west Broward County who are waiting for this to reach them,” Commissioner Barbara Sharief said. “We have got to see this thing through.”

Commissioners voted 5-4 in favor of the project, assured that the new prices would not be as high as the proposals rejected by the state in November that could have pushed the total cost over $270 million.

“My concern is where we’ve gotten financially,” said Commissioner Chip LaMarca, who switched from his previous support for the project.

In order to reduce costs, the state made changes that would reduce the size of the project’s vehicle maintenance facility and scaled back the number of upgrades needed for the Southeast Third Avenue bridge that will carry the streetcars over the New River. Officials said the changes would not affect the safety of the system.

However, because of those alterations, County Attorney Andrew Meyers recommended the county secure the extra approvals of Fort Lauderdale and its development board to reduce the chances of future litigation were either to try to back out of their existing obligations.

“I don’t want to walk away from it if at all possible,” Commissioner Tim Ryan said.

Officials said the city decision cannot be delayed until a new city commission is seated following the March elections. The county needs an answer within one or two weeks, they said.

The action now moves to Fort Lauderdale, where Commissioner Bruce Roberts has switched his previous support of the project to opposition. Commissioner Dean Trantalis, his rival in the upcoming mayoral election, is also against the project.

Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler said it would be irresponsible to return the money, and returning it could sour the federal government on giving Fort Lauderdale funding for a new federal courthouse, or Port Everglades improvements.

Seiler said he could support the Wave, if he could be assured it would one day reach the airport, the educational campuses in Davie and points along Sistrunk Boulevard. He said he’d also want assurance the overhead wires could be phased out, and he prefers not to have in-ground rails. But he said he wants to know the possibilities, and suggested the city host a public forum where all parties involved in the Wave are on hand to answer questions.

“Fort Lauderdale needs something like the Wave,” he said at Tuesday’s city commission meeting.

If the system is built, the county’s action could cause yet another delay. It now isn’t expected to be operational until July 2021.

Stacy Miller, acting district secretary for the state’s transportation department, said her staff had to digest the implications of the commission’s action and confer with its lawyers.

Once a request for new proposals is issued, the state could be on the hook for up to $760,000 to the two firms that plan to submit bids — even if the project is stopped.

Time is also critical because the project is pushing up against a Sept. 30 deadline to spend — or lose— about $10 million in federal grants. The project has already fallen behind spending that money after the earlier proposals were rejected.

There was another project delay when its management was transferred from Tri-Rail’s South Florida Regional Transportation Authority to the state transportation department.

Mayor Beam Furr and commissioners Sharief, Ryan, Steve Geller and Mark Bogen voted in favor of the Wave, while commissioners LaMarca, Michael Udine, Nan Rich and Dale Holness voted no. Bogen, who is out of town at a Chicago Cubs baseball camp and did not participate in the rest of the commission meeting, popped in by phone near the end of the Wave discussion to cast his vote.

Opponents wanted commissioners to end the project Tuesday.

They said the system was too expensive, wouldn’t attract many riders and is using outdated technology. The electric streetcars would be powered by overhead lines along most of the route and would share a lane of traffic with cars, buses and other vehicles, providing little relief from congestion. Because the streetcars rely on fixed rails embedded in the roadway, they will be forced to stop if something is blocking the track in front of them, unlike buses that could move around the blockage.

“Time and technology have moved on,” said Marilyn Mammano, a Fort Lauderdale resident and former Wave supporter. “Please, take a deep breath and just say no.”

The project had the support of Fort Lauderdale’s downtown business community, which has counted on the Wave to be an economic engine for growth along its route. The Wave route extends generally along or near Andrews Avenue from Northeast Sixth Street to Southeast 17th Street.

“A lot of the seeds that were planted years and years ago are now coming to fruition in Flagler Village,” said Doug McGraw, founder of FAT Village, which is on the Wave’s proposed route. “We think it is a very necessary piece for the growth and future of Broward County and Fort Lauderdale.”

While opponents say the route goes nowhere, advocates point to plans to extend the system to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Port Everglades, Tri-Rail and Sawgrass Mills mall in Sunrise. County officials are looking at 27.2 miles of future extensions, which would include down Broward Boulevard and along State Road 7 and University Drive. The Wave is projected to carry about 2,500 people a day.

The project budget is made up of a combination of federal, state and local funding: $82.7 million from the federal government, $52.7 million from the state and $59.9 million split among the city, the downtown authority, downtown property owners and the county.