An underpass would help create a safe barrier between drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians and the freight trains and Brightline commuter trains that travel through town on the Florida East Coast Railway tracks, Stuart told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s too soon to know exactly how much the underpass project would cost, Stuart said.<\/p>\n
The price for all five could reach $550 million, he added.<\/p>\n
If the tunnels are too expensive, there\u2019s another option: An overpass.<\/p>\n
To build five overpass bridges at the same locations would cost around $350 million, Stuart said.<\/p>\n
Railroad crossings create major barriers for drivers, pedestrians and cyclists, planners say. The trains themselves can cause long delays for commuters, making it harder for people to get to work, school and other destinations.<\/p>\n
In theory, the underpasses would make it easier to walk, bike and drive across the city, planners say. They would also reconnect neighborhoods on both sides of the tracks; improve safety; reduce congestion; and harden infrastructure with drainage and stormwater upgrades.<\/p>\n
The project might sound like a great plan, but it\u2019s a long way from breaking ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t going to happen overnight,\u201d Stuart said. \u201cIt could happen in 10 to 15 years. It could even take till 2040 just to line up the money. You\u2019d have to stagger construction. The trains would need to keep running during construction. That\u2019s why studies favor bridges over tunnels. They\u2019re easier to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/tfl-l-train-track-crossings-ftl-4-102225.jpg\")
An aerial view of the railroad tracks on Sunrise Boulevard near Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday. Transportation planners are studying whether a traffic tunnel at the tracks might help ease traffic on Sunrise Boulevard and four other crossings. (Amy Beth Bennett\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n
The U.S. Department of Transportation contributed $1.5 million for the 18-month study. Fort Lauderdale kicked in another $375,000.<\/p>\n
As part of the TRAX study, transportation planners plan to seek public feedback during workshops similar to one held Tuesday night at Holiday Park.<\/p>\n
Ted Inserra<\/a>, president of River Oaks Civic Association, came to the meeting to find out more about the plan.<\/p>\n \u201cTo me, the only thing that makes sense would be an overpass,\u201d Inserra said after the meeting. \u201cAn underpass is going to flood. We can\u2019t even keep the Kinney tunnel on U.S. 1 from flooding. \u2026 It just seems so far-fetched.\u201d<\/p>\n Ed Catalano, president of the South Middle River Civic Association, said he likes the idea of an underpass, but thinks an overpass makes more sense.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve lived here 11 years now and I\u2019ve seen everything grow and grow and grow and the traffic getting heavier and heavier every day,\u201d Catalano said after the meeting. \u201cI would think an overpass would be more logical for the area because of the rain.\u201d<\/p>\n An underpass would require a drainage system similar to the one used by the U.S. 1 tunnel in downtown Fort Lauderdale, planners say.<\/p>\n Mayor Dean Trantalis was not at Tuesday night\u2019s meeting, but told the Sun Sentinel he was not in favor of building overpasses at the tracks for the same reason he doesn\u2019t want a bridge<\/a> for commuter rail<\/a> built over the New River.<\/p>\n \u201cOverpasses are not an option because it\u2019s going to destroy the visual impact,\u201d Trantalis said. \u201cWhere do the bridges begin and where do they end? We already have a street design meant to be at ground level. You\u2019d have to start the bridge at U.S 1 and end it at Northwest Seventh Avenue if you wanted to build an overpass at the tracks on Broward Boulevard.\u201d<\/p>\n James Cromar, deputy executive director of the Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization, said planners are still studying where each entry and exit point would be.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re looking at that now,\u201d Cromar said. \u201cWe need to avoid the underground infrastructure. In a year, we\u2019ll have a plan.\u201d<\/p>\n Fred Bloetscher, a civil engineering professor at Florida Atlantic University, estimated that each underpass would be about the same length as the 864-foot-long Kinney Tunnel. The deepest point is 35 feet below the surface of the New River.<\/p>\n The tunnels under the railroad tracks would need to be at least 35 feet deep to allow semi-trucks and transit vehicles to drive through, Bloetscher said.<\/p>\n By his estimates, the underpass on Sunrise Boulevard would start near Searstown on the east and go all the way to Northeast Fourth Avenue on the west.\u00a0The underpass on Broward Boulevard would start at Andrews Avenue on the east side and pop up at Southwest Fourth Avenue on the west. The same goes for Sistrunk and Davie Boulevard.<\/p>\n An underpass would be far superior to an overpass, according to Bloetscher.<\/p>\n \u201cHere\u2019s the challenge with an overpass: It cuts off the neighborhood,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can\u2019t walk from one side of the street to another because there\u2019s a wall there at least 25 feet high. You cut the neighborhood in half. That\u2019s why the tunnel makes more sense.\u201d<\/p>\n Building an underpass is not commonly done in South Florida, however.<\/p>\n \u201cOverpasses are done all the time,\u201d Bloetscher said. \u201cGoing under is a little tougher. There\u2019s going to be water lines, sewer and stormwater pipes, fiber and powerlines. All those are going to need to be moved. But I think this could work.\u201d<\/p>\n The underground infrastructure will play a key role in the cost, Stuart said. And each corridor will be different.<\/p>\n \u201cThe unknowns we have are what utilities are running under the tracks,\u201d Stuart said. \u201cThe cost really depends on what\u2019s going on underground. The pros of an underpass is that there\u2019s no large structure in the air. The cons are cost.\u201d<\/p>\n Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT LAUDERDALE \u2014 Imagine not having to stop at the railroad tracks when a train rolls by, whether…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16331,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[506,28,249,251,250,114,266,109],"class_list":["post-16330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-broward-county","tag-florida","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-social"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/tfl-l-train-track-crossings-ftl-2-102225.jpg\")
A minivan waits as a Brightline train crosses Sunrise Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday. (Amy Beth Bennett\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n![\"Fort](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Trax-meeting.jpg\")
Fort Lauderdale community leaders Ed Catalano, foreground, and Ted Inserra listen to transportation experts discuss a proposal to build traffic tunnels at railroad crossings Tuesday night at Holiday Park. (Susannah Bryan\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n