$1.9 billion Metrorail extension may run to Broward
Eleven months after voting that rapid transit to the Broward County line should use an “elevated fixed guideway,” Miami-Dade’s transportation planning board today (10/31) may choose a $1.9 billion Metrorail extension.
State consultant WSP compared Metrorail with automated people mover, monorail and urban magnetic-levitation trains for the 9.5 miles through Miami Gardens along Northwest 27th Avenue.
WSP recommended Metrorail, which would take eight years to finish there. It’s the second-most costly option behind monorail, which would cost $50 million more.
But there’s no contest in riders. Metrorail would average 16,200 a day, including 7,500 new users, WSP said, while the other modes would serve half that or fewer.
As such, per-passenger costs overwhelmingly favor Metrorail, the only mode that would offer one-seat rides from Brickell to a future Unity Metrorail station at Northwest 215th Street.
Assuming 50% federal and 25% state funding, the county would pay $474.2 million to build the line, plus $49.4 million a year to operate and keep up.
Securing outside funds isn’t guaranteed; however, it’s more likely with Metrorail, as evidenced by two similar Los Angeles projects that recently got federal matches of 44% and 50%, WSP said.
The Northwest 27th Avenue route is called the North Corridor in Miami-Dade’s SMART Plan, which launched in 2016 to select transit for six highly congested corridors.
If North Corridor Metrorail is OK’d by the transportation board – all 13 county commissioners, nine city officials and a school board member – it would mark just the second corridor to get a new transit designation.
The board last year voted 15-7 for a $300 million rapid-transit bus line on the South Dade Corridor’s bus path between Kendall and Florida City, including a last-minute provision for conversion to at-grade Metrorail once daily riders hit 35,000.
Jaime Rodriguez
October 30, 2019 at 4:13 pm
Well extending metrorail to Broward county great idea
The line should run thru I75 to the area of the area of the sawgrass mall it will serve sunrise and plantation.the raidership
Will be great.this area of broward offer a great potential.
Hank
October 30, 2019 at 9:32 pm
Metrorail is vital to South East Florida, as hwy getting congestion and creating polushion problems, CA solve long time transportation systems along LA and Frisco, but in southeast Florida, situation resembles 19th century mentality, just look at Europe, fantastic transportation systems
Sherry
October 31, 2019 at 3:03 am
What does this have to do with Broward? Just going to the county line is not helping Broward?
Mertis
October 31, 2019 at 9:49 am
Dade county promise us a train for years i really don’t think they want to help the traffic just keep collecting money and where is the money for the train
Elias Bigio
October 31, 2019 at 10:59 am
The idea of connecting Dade County and Broward County has been talked about for while. I am glad that it is now being considered to be a reality. This is an excellent idea.
Gabriel
December 2, 2019 at 11:52 am
Broward just approved a one percent sales tax last year for transportation. They can get rid of those express buses and clear i95… its estimated, broward will collect $400-500 million per year extra or 15.6 billion in the 30 years that it was approved for, enough to build over 500 miles of metrorail (each mile cost to build around 25-30 million).
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fl-ne-btn-broward-transportation-sales-tax-begins-programs-20190520-dja3uula6rbdtfxp6adgnbecji-story.html%3foutputType=amp