Train of thought on the right track: A bridge
Put 14 politicians in a room. Now get them all to agree on something that has major long-term consequences for all of South Florida for decades to come.
Hey, good luck. Even when all 14 are Democrats. And even when all 14 are from Broward — make that especially when they’re all from Broward.
The elected leaders of Broward County and Fort Lauderdale met for three hours Tuesday, and actually came close to reaching a public consensus on the question of whether a bridge or a tunnel across the New River is a better option to finally make a regional three-county commuter rail system a reality.
That’s progress. But the question is complicated by money, politics, the involvement of state and federal governments and two existing train systems. Plus time is running very short with a key federal grant application deadline in February, and the county and city both have long track records of not doing much of anything in a hurry.
The story of Broward
This is Broward, after all, where it took forever to build a new county jail and just about as long to build a desperately needed convention center.
The immediate challenge is how best to get commuter rail cars across the New River to Oakland Park, Pompano Beach and beyond.
The county, which is in charge of the project, insists on a bridge, and most commissioners view a tunnel as too risky and way too expensive. The city, led by Mayor Dean Trantalis, prefers a tunnel. The mayor has said that a high, fixed bridge would divide the city and “ruin” Fort Lauderdale at a time when its downtown is experiencing remarkable growth.
“Collaboration is the key,” Broward Mayor Nan Rich said at the outset. Soon, a quiet consensus emerged in favor of a bridge.
As Sun Sentinel reporter Susannah Bryan noted, three of the five city commissioners, a majority, voiced support for a bridge on Tuesday as a far less expensive and more realistic alternative to a tunnel.
The right call
This was a workshop, so no votes were taken, and no trumpets blared. Still, it was a consensus, and the right one.
“Done is better than perfect,” said City Commissioner John Herbst, a former city auditor. “A tunnel is the ideal solution, but I am financially focused first. Frugality is my watchword.”
Commissioner Pamela Beasley-Pittman called a bridge “more cost-efficient.” Commissioner Warren Sturman, noting the reality of the county’s role as project manager, said: “Our interest is subordinate to the county.”
Consultants estimate that a bridge would cost about $500 million and a tunnel as much as $3 billion, with the cost to be shared by the feds, the state and the county — not the city.
A tunnel also would take a lot longer to build, experts say. Todd Brauer of Whitehouse Group, who led the workshop, said: “The more expensive the alternative, the more difficult it is to get federal funding.”
The nagging questions
There are nagging questions in the minds of county politicians, such as, exactly what’s down there, 60 feet below Davie Boulevard? And when you dig a hole big enough for a tunnel, what do you do with all that dirt?
Another pivotal moment in the workshop came when Phil Purcell, president and CEO of the Marine Industries Association of South Florida, the influential voice of boating interests, said his group would support a bridge across the river (the mayor has consistently said that marine interests preferred a tunnel so that boaters don’t have to wait for bridge openings).
“By all means,” Purcell told political leaders, “a 40-foot bridge will work.”
It is critical for the city and county to show united leadership and reach a formal agreement on the best way to cross the river, and the price tag alone makes it impossible to build enough community support for a tunnel.
If they fail to agree, the likelihood of a regional commuter rail system could collapse, consigning future north-south commuters to rely on an increasingly crowded and dangerous I-95.
After Tuesday’s workshop ended, Fort Lauderdale officials considered, but took no action, on a hastily proposed resolution in favor of a tunnel, but which included support for a bridge “if the data supports it as the best financial alternative.”
They chose to wait while yet another consultant, BDO, for $75,000, analyzes the other studies and presumably builds the case for a tunnel. But the BDO study is probably doomed from the start. Because commissioners did not approve the study, they have no ownership of it, and can easily reject its conclusions.
That set off a tense late-night discussion of why City Manager Greg Chavarria hired BDO without first discussing it with his bosses in public.
The manager has discretionary spending power and said he was following directions to collect “all information possible.” But Herbst said it smacked of “doctor shopping” or looking for an expert who will tell the mayor what he wants to hear.
The city will await BDO’s findings, which are expected by February, and Trantalis said he wants more input from residents, too. “I think the public needs to be more engaged on a decision like this,” he said.
We couldn’t agree more.