FLORIDA: Rail Gets Shafted

Two major transportation projects aimed at relieving severe congestion in Florida - a $1.46 billion light-rail project in Hillsborough County and an $842.5 million heavy-rail extension project in Miami-Dade County - were not funded in the U.S. Department of Transportation's 2006 budget sent to Congress on Tuesday.

A new 20-mile rail project in Hillsborough, proposed in 1999, lacked a local financial commitment, according to the Federal Transit Administration's New Starts program, in which local and state entities use their funds to leverage federal funds.

Hillsborough wants $727.7 million in federal funds, well over the $500 million limit typically granted, and has relied "on the passage of a local sales tax referendum that has been continuously postponed," the FTA said, noting that the funding would not be considered next year if the project was not substantially updated.

A 9.5-mile heavy-rail extension to relieve severe congestion in Miami-Dade was not rated for funding because the FTA said it needed better ridership estimates and cost-benefit documentation for the 50% in federal funding sought.

The remaining 50% of the cost would come from the state Department of Transportation and bonds issued by Miami-Dade and secured by a half-cent transportation sales tax levied in the county.

Another transit project in the Southeast not recommended for funding was the $121.2 million, 3.6-mile extension of a streetcar system in New Orleans, while a $694.6 million, 28-mile regional rail system between Raleigh and Durham, N.C., was not rated.

Only two projects in the Southeast, a $426.8 million light-rail line in Mecklenburg County, N.C., and a $1.52 billion, heavy-rail extension in Fairfax County, Va., are expected to receive funding if Congress approves the recommended New Starts program budget.

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