Railroad bridge begins new temporary opening schedule affecting Brightline and boaters

Ed Killer, Treasure Coast Newspapers
Updated ·4 min read
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Wednesday, a new temporary railroad drawbridge schedule for openings and closings is set to begin, according to the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Miami.

From June 21 until Dec. 17, the railroad drawbridge over the St. Lucie River at Stuart will follow these operating procedures:

  • Open the drawbridge every quarter and three-quarter hour for boat traffic

  • Leave draw open until all boat traffic has cleared

  • Delay the opening by no more than five minutes if there's a train on the track circuit

  • Immediately open the drawbridge once the train has cleared

A Brightline train can be seen crossing the St. Lucie River railroad bridge in February 2023.
A Brightline train can be seen crossing the St. Lucie River railroad bridge in February 2023.

On June 8, the U.S. Coast Guard issued notice of a temporary deviation to the drawbridge opening schedule. In it, the agency included these instructions for Florida East Coast Railway and Brightline's passenger rail service:

  • Have a tender onsite at all times to operate the drawbridge by local control and maintain a logbook. (There hasn't been a bridge tender in over 50 years).

  • Create a mobile application with real-time data showing the schedule and whether the bridge is up or down.

  • Post electronic signs visible to marine traffic providing VHF radio contact information, mobile application information, and the bridge tender's telephone number.

Brightline responded June 8 telling TCPalm:

"The mitigation measures that came out of our 2015 environmental assessment — which the Coast Guard was a cooperating agency — identified the following mitigation measures:

  • App for mariners

  • Countdown clock

  • Bridge monitor: The monitor will be in place before Brightline begins operations but not by June 21"

How the Coast Guard would handle the railroad bridge schedule has been a hot topic in the community for over a year. Martin County has over 17,000 registered vessels and St. Lucie County has more than 12,000. Thousands of recreational boaters from Palm City and Port St. Lucie travel through the drawbridge opening every week.

The St. Lucie River is also the Okeechobee Waterway, a federally maintained channel and the only channel crossing the state saving boaters 350 miles in travel distance between Stuart and Fort Myers. It is commonly used by commercial and industrial boat traffic, too. Dozens of marine businesses are located on the river's South Fork and 15 have filed a lawsuit against the Coast Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers and FEC Railway about the bridge schedule.

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The train companies said last week the bridge opening schedule will severely impact rail operations for both freight and passenger service, expected to begin in September. Freight trains waiting for the drawbridge to come down could be stopped on the tracks in downtown Stuart or on the north side of the bridge into Rio, according to Brightline senior vice president of corporate affairs Ben Porritt.

“Brightline’s business model doesn’t work unless our community gives up access to our waterway for 50 minutes out of every hour.  Brightline has known this for almost a decade but is trying to take the Treasure Coast hostage at the eleventh hour — and the Federal Railway Administration is complicit," said Congressman Brian Mast, a Fort Pierce Republican and boater advocate who used to live in Palm City.

Mast went on to say that the FRA has let down the citizens of the Treasure Coast by failing to do its job and properly analyze the situation or siding with Brightline’s position early in the process.

Brightline said it is committed to developing a solution that works for all parties involved.

“FECR, Brightline, USCG and the FRA are engaged in a collaborative dialogue to establish a framework for operations at the St. Lucie Bridge that will result in safe, reliable and equitable use by the marine and rail industry. We are confident a resolution can be found prior to Brightline’s scheduled Orlando launch. The consensus of the USCG, FRA, FECR Brightline and many in the local community is that a permanent solution crafted around a new double track bridge that widens the marine passage and allows over 90% of current boat traffic to pass without opening is in the best interest of enhanced utility, safety and operational flexibility,” said Brightline in a statement Tuesday.

The Coast Guard will evaluate the effects of the change and is seeking public comment at regulations.gov by the Aug. 4 deadline.

Ed Killer is the outdoors writer for TCPalm.com. Email him at ed.killer@tcpalm.com.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Brightline, boaters to be affected by new railroad bridge schedule