Having failed to get federal stimulus money to establish new Amtrak passenger rail service from Jacksonville to Miami, the Florida Department of Transportation wants to spend $118 million out of the state’s transportation trust fund.
Almost all of the hurdles have been overcome. The state has an acceptable environmental study, Florida East Coast Railway has indicated it is willing to have the trains on its tracks, and the cities between Jacksonville and Miami are enthusiastically behind the plan.
But there’s a final hurdle: getting a matching $118 million from the federal government. And it’s not clear how the state will get the federal dollars when the current attitude in Washington is to cut spending.
Florida could seek grants, ask federal legislators to put the money in a spending bill, or try to get it via a new transportation bill that’s expected to be approved this year.
The rest of the story appears on the Florida Times-Union website.