ST. AUGUSTINE -- The St. Johns County Commission
yesterday OK'd returning passenger trains to St. Augustine, possibly making the
city one of eight new stops between Jacksonville and West Palm Beach offered by
Amtrak.
The 4-1 approval, with Commissioner Nick Meiszer casting the only "no" vote,
follows a similar resolution by St. Augustine City Council. The council approved
its resolution to support the idea Monday.
Other stops would be in Daytona Beach, Titusville, Cocoa/Port Canaveral,
Melbourne, Vero Beach, Fort Pierce and Stuart. Florida East Coast Railway
recently made a deal with Amtrak to let Amtrak passenger trains run on its
tracks.
For St. Augustine, it would be the first time since a violent railway strike
in 1968 that the county would have passenger railroad service.
In a letter Friday to the commission, Edward Wuellner, executive director of
the St. Augustine/St. Johns County Airport Authority, asked the commission to
support a resolution that would have a two-fold purpose: to show that the
re-establishment of scheduled passenger train service along the state is
necessary, and to garner millions of dollars in funding from the state, a
decision that lies in the hands of the state secretary of transportation and the
Legislature.
The transportation department already has set aside $15.5 million for what is
estimated to be a $62.5 million project, Wuellner said.
"I think it's a transportation alternative that we should have gotten
involved in a long time ago," commission Chairman March Jacalone said.
A transportation center proposed by the St. Augustine/St. Johns County
Airport Authority would combine the existing airport with new bus and passenger
rail service. An elevated walkway would connect the airport, which primarily
serves smaller planes and corporate jets, on the east side of U.S. 1 with an
Amtrak terminal and other facilities to the west on undeveloped land.
The transportation center would include access to rental cars, taxis and
shuttles to residential and business centers in St. Johns County. The center
also would have shops and restaurants.
Meiszer said although he supports railway service, he thinks the county
should think about using a railway station south of the county complex instead
of considering building a new one.
"The railroad already has a station here in good condition that isn't in
use," he said.
