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Mayor’s Message continued

Instead of doing the legwork needed, the county gives us half- legal fees, property experts and acquisition costs.
cooked ideas.
It’s mystifying that the county has conducted no community
Maybe, they say, the new bridge should be built west of the outreach about their New River crossing plans.
existing bridge as FDOT proposed. Their other idea is to have Ultimately, if there is not consensus, this project is simply
a set of THREE bridges – building a single-line bridge to the doomed to fail.
east of the existing bridge and another single-line bridge to
the west. The Biden administration and Congress are not going to help
pay for a project that is subject to deep community divisions.
The county also must look at the impact a bridge has on How can there be consensus when essential studies have yet
surrounding property. A bridge likely would require the county to be completed and discussed in community meetings? How
to purchase 30 feet of additional right-of-way along the length can there be consensus when there is so little information
of the bridge and its approaches.
about the county’s planned direction?
The county may have to seize such property through eminent Fort Lauderdale deserves better.
domain involving years of court fights. That’s exactly what
happened when the county expanded the international airport Dean Trantalis
in the mid-1990s. They spent enormous amounts of money on Mayor, City of Fort Lauderdale

UPDATE: District 4 Commissioner Dr. Warren Sturman
on the New River Crossing issue

uesday, Dec 19, the City of Fort Lauderdale As a result of this resolution passing, we have already seen a
Commission passed my resolution reaffirming that very positive step forward. Since Tuesday night I have been
Tour local preferred option for the New River Crossing contacted by several Broward County Commissioners, the
for commuter rail is a tunnel and stressed our commitment Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) and the
to work with the Broward County Commission to achieve Broward County Administrator expressing their willingness to
our long-sought goal of commuter rail in the tri-county area. work with us on this project. Our goal is to expedite the BDO
Later, I introduced a motion (it passed 5-0) to retain the report and find a mechanism to evaluate their findings so that
services of BDO, USA a consulting firm that will explore the city and county can move forward.
design alternatives that aims to make the tunnel option more As we approach the new year, I look forward to working with
affordable and attainable. all of you to make our city even better.
This resolution was put forward with a provision to reach Dr. Warren Sturman
out to the county to make this a joint effort. It is important District 4 City Commissioner
to realize that Broward County cooperation is mandatory City of Fort Lauderdale
because they will be serving as the lead in the commuter
rail project, including any New River crossing, construction,
funding, and operations.

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