Fort Lauderdale mayor heads to D.C. to pitch train tunnel

Broward commissioners may say they want a bridge for commuter rail over the New River, but Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis isn’t giving up on his fight to get a tunnel built instead.

On Thursday, the mayor was in Washington, D.C. meeting with federal officials to make the pitch for a tunnel. He did the same when he met one-on-one Tuesday with U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in Fort Lauderdale.

Trantalis argued a tunnel can be done cheaper than the current estimate of $3 billion and would not ruin downtown Fort Lauderdale like a $400 million bridge would.

On Thursday, Trantalis tweeted a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying Fort Lauderdale has been awarded $974,000 by the U.S. Department of Transportation for the Regional Infrastructure program.

“This funding will supercharge our study of the New River Commuter Rail Crossing via a tunnel,” his post said. “What does this mean? It’s all about improving safety, keeping our communities connected, easing traffic flow and improving navigability not just in our downtown core, but for the entire region.”

In a letter sent Monday to the county, Trantalis and Fort Lauderdale City Manager Greg Chavarria argued that a bridge would impact real estate prices downtown and require the purchase of privately owned land and the costly relocation of residents and businesses.

The bridge would also sit uncomfortably close to existing buildings and buildings currently under construction along the New River, the letter said.

“We’re trying to formulate a more reasonable cost,” Trantalis told the South Florida Sun Sentinel before he left for D.C. “We need to apply for the federal grant by February. We are in the process of doing studies from an engineering and social impact point.”

Broward Mayor Lamar Fisher says county officials are eager to get going on a project.

“It’s more cost efficient to build a bridge,” he said. “The tunnel would take 10 to 12 years and the bridge would take five years.”

Critics have questioned whether a tunnel might flood.

“Flooding is a major concern for the county, especially with climate change and king tides,” Fisher said.

County Commissioner Steve Geller says he also prefers a tunnel, but only if it makes good fiscal sense.

“I tend to agree that the bridges can be ugly,” Geller said. “If you can do a tunnel, great. I just want to get something done. The mayor of Fort Lauderdale keeps giving us one set of numbers and our staff keeps giving us another set of numbers. The problem is we’re running out of time.” Geller noted that Fort Lauderdale is not contributing to the project’s cost.

Under current plans, the federal government would pay 50% of the tab and the county and state would each pay 25%.

“If they want to pay for a tunnel, God bless them,” he said of Fort Lauderdale officials. “But they will never in a million years do that.”

Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan