(The following column by Jim Beamguard appeared on the Tampa Tribune website on December 14.)
TAMPA, Fla. — The federal government is soon going to be allocating billions of dollars for cities to build rail projects, both as part of the new transportation bill and as a one-time economic stimulus to help the economy.
U.S. Rep. John Mica, who represents an east-central Florida area from the Orlando suburbs to beyond St. Augustine, fears Tampa and Orlando could be left behind. The Republican leader on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee visited Tampa recently to warn local leaders to get rolling.
He also met with the Tribune Editorial Board. Here is an edited account of the highlights:
What is the urgency in finishing a rail plan?
Next year, we do a five- to six-year transportation bill. The current one expires the end of September 2009. We’re starting that process now, deciding transportation policy for the country.
When I came to Congress 16 years ago, there were 29 requests for fixed-rail projects. There were 300 in the last bill. I expect even more this year.
We’ll be doing an economic stimulus package. It will probably be a very big package. One of the key components will probably be infrastructure. I don’t want any part of Florida left out.
Why would Tampa be left out?
When you don’t have a project, the money goes somewhere else. In Tampa, you’ve got one short streetcar line. Of the 27 largest metropolitan statistical areas, only Orlando, northern Ohio and southern Kentucky don’t really have fixed-transit systems.
Tampa can wrap itself up in a cocoon and not participate, but the rest of the country is going to do an economic stimulus package, and a big part of it will be infrastructure.
Why did you threaten earlier this year to cut off federal transportation money for Tampa if Florida didn’t approve the Orlando rail plan?
I think I was rather strong in my commitment, but I never threatened to cut anybody totally off.
I am more inclined to support everyone who supports solutions. I’ve encouraged everybody, not just in Tampa but around the state, to try to get some resolutions to things that are stopping us from moving forward.
I couldn’t think of a worse time in Florida for a major project to fail. Everyone’s competing for money and time and approval.
My threat isn’t that Mica’s going to do this. My statement is if we don’t do this, we’re going to look awfully foolish. The last thing we need is for our projects to move farther behind because we have no credibility.
If they see us not getting our act together, they’ll step over you so quickly it’ll make your head spin.
I’m well-positioned right now. I’ll be the most powerful person on the Republican side on transportation in the country come Jan. 20.
And I don’t have to screw with the Bush administration, who I fought with for eight years, who had very myopic opinions about transportation. But I still have to have my own credibility for my own state. And if I have to help others who are ready to go, I’ll do that.
We’re concerned that there’s no plan to get rail from Tampa to Orlando.
There are plans to connect Tampa, Orlando and Miami. But now, what would I connect into? I need a regional transit system here.
You’ve got several options. The failed high-speed rail is still viable. I just passed the first high-speed rail legislation in 11 years. The president signed it.
There are a couple folks I threw out of the office a few years back. They came up, and said Mr. Mica, we want your support. Here are our plans for transportation. I looked at them and it was just some highways. I said, you come back with a comprehensive plan.
I threw Bush out of the office, too. Bush handed me the same thing. Myopic.
You threw Jeb Bush out of your office when he was Florida governor?
Well, figuratively. You said they didn’t have a plan. I forced them to develop a plan. At least I was one of the people who forced them.
Many conservatives oppose government-subsidized rail projects. Why are you a supporter?
Look at my score in Congress. I’m the most fiscally conservative Republican in the entire leadership.
To me, this passenger rail is very cost effective.
On I-4, one additional lane for 20 miles will cost about $1.5 billion. In that one lane, if you go 60 miles per hour, will get you 2,000 cars per hour.
In South Florida, I can show you what 14 lanes of asphalt and concrete look like. Then I’ll take you to California and show you what 20 lanes of traffic looks like. You begin to degrade the quality of life around this.
In Central Florida, we’re building 61 miles of commuter rail. I’m taking an existing right of way. I’m not destroying the environment. I can move 5,000 to 15,000 people per hour on this. The entire system is about $620 million.
I’ll still have to widen I-4, I-275, I-95, but if you go down to South Florida you see you’ve got to have other alternatives.
It’s energy, the environment, and the economy. The ridership figures are off the chart. The environment, how much more can we pave? It does have consequences as far as global warming and the quality of life.
What are some projects other urban areas are building?
In Miami, I have projects costing $5.2 billion at the airport. I’m not making any of these up. They are under way.
In New York, JFK airport to Grand Central Station, $7.4 billion. Grinding machines are boring 160 feet under Manhattan through solid rock.
In Virginia, an extension of the Washington Metro Rail for $5.2 billion. It’s 21 miles from where it now ends to Dulles airport.
I was just in Seattle. It’s almost done, $2.4 billion for 14 miles of rail from the airport to the core of the city.
California passed a $9.98 billion referendum – $9 billion is for high-speed rail from San Diego to Sacramento. The $980 million is to build the rest of the regional transportation. They’re ahead of us.
Why not use buses instead of trains?
I’ve tried more buses all over the country. We tried them on the side of interstates and in HOV lanes. The problem is, when you have an accident or any kind of a slowdown, the buses are subject to that.
One of our concerns with the Orlando rail plan is how it might affect Tampa and Lakeland. CSX told us they are moving more freight trains to this side of the state and wouldn’t allow passenger trains on freight lines here. What are your thoughts on that?
That’s not true. What they have said is that their plans right now wouldn’t be to do anything. I don’t have a proposal from this area. That’s why I’m saying this area has to get in the mix.
Most of existing rights of way are owned by CSX. If you pee on CSX’s parade in Central Florida, do you think they’re going to cooperate with other entities?
They Tampa areas leaders can, will and should do whatever they want to here. I didn’t come to interfere. I’ll talk to the delegation. I don’t do this in a vacuum.