It’s been in the planning process for over ten years, but now it’s hit a snag.
Passenger Service on the Florida East Coast rail line.
We had it once, long ago. Henry Flagler saw to that. 
It went away decades ago when the owners of the tracks decided to run freight only. Today, only the rumbling noise of the rock clogged trains move through Fort Lauderdale. But the plans have been slowly working their way through the cumbersome public planning process for the new service. This passenger service line would run from Jupiter to Miami, with dozens of stops along the way.
Unfortunately, this week, residents of Fort Lauderdale Downtown have thrown a wrinkle in the process.
Here’s the problem.
1.) – In order for the new service to be successful, it must run often, say every 15 minutes from each station.
2.) – The trains must pass over the New River, and the marine interests say opening a draw bridge every 15 minutes over the river would be dangerous and unworkable. They say a very tall bridge ( maybe 90 foot) would have to be built over the river.
3.) – The Downtown Residents are loudly saying “hold on, we don’t want a big, ugly, tall bridge dividing the downtown”. They want a tunnel.
the bridge would have to run along this stretch – Broward and south
4.) – The planners say a tunnel costs huge bucks, maybe 10 times the cost of a bridge, maybe a half a billion dollars. Probably a deal killer.
Does anyone have a phone number for Henry Flagler ???