(The following story by Rick Rousos appeared on the Lakeland Ledger website on February 4, 2009.)
LAKELAND, Fla. — People barely on speaking terms a year ago because of the high-tension dispute over the proposed Orlando-area commuter rail that would add more freight trains through downtown Lakeland played nice all day Wednesday.
And that alone, several public officials said, was reason enough to hold a meeting where officials across Florida, particularly the Interstate 4 corridor, exchanged perspectives.
About 120 people, mostly public officials, attended the Regional Connectivity Summit at The Lakeland Center. About half of the 120 were not from Lakeland.
The purpose of the meeting, which was hosted by Lakeland, was to get people thinking of freight and commuter rail as regional and state issues, not just local ones.
City Commissioner Gow Fields said the population of the I-4 corridor between Tampa and Orlando is expected to double in the next 20 or 30 years.
The Tampa-Orlando “super region” is already the seventh-largest in the country.
“We’re going to have to do things differently,” Fields said. “How can we connect communities in ways that haven’t been done before? That is what brings us here today.”
The gathering included officials from the Florida Department of Transportation, CSX, Tampa and Orlando leadership groups, commuter rail transit proponents, and rail consultants.
It also included officials from SunRail, the name for the 61 miles of proposed Orlando area commuter rail.
There was little drama or anyone losing their cool during the day.
City Commissioner Howard Wiggs, however, did get on a bit of a roll. In addressing the audience, he said he might have “one or two friends left in Winter Haven.”
Wiggs questioned FDOT officials, wondering why none of the five alternative routes that could send freight traffic around downtown included putting the proposed freight terminal somewhere other than Winter Haven.
CSX is just a few permits shy of beginning to build the first phase of its Winter Haven facility.
Adam Bridges, CSX assistant vice president for strategic planning, said the company looked in numerous locations for a place to build its terminal.
“Winter Haven felt like the right mix,” he said.
Lakeland Community Development Director Jim Studiale said Lakeland wants a downtown where people can drive – or even walk – without waiting for trains.
He said the city doesn’t want more trains but has nothing against commuter rail.
“We want it to be right here.”
State Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, who has taken the lead in the Florida Legislature in trying to protect the city’s downtown from an increase in trains, could not attend the summit.