Page 22 - Layout 1

RV0322.qxp_Layout 1 3/2/22 7:07 PM Page 20

Mayor’s Message continued

A core concept of urban planning these days is to correct or long claimed — $3.8 billion. Rather, they say a tunnel could
reshape some of the transportation infrastructure that was used be built for as little as $750 million. Faced with this pushback,
to divide communities. Reconnecting communities has even FDOT recently revised its estimate to $1.8 billion. These
been adopted into President Biden’s infrastructure program. private contractors also say there is nothing technically
complex about this project or the area’s geology that would
The city’s historic district also would be overwhelmed by the
height of the bridge as the New River Inn, the history center make a tunnel difficult to construct or operate.
and early historic homes are located directly next to the train We need to persuade the state and county to do the right
tracks. We would be headed the opposite direction of other thing. Imagine what would have happened if local leaders
urban American cities. made a different decision about Federal Highway and the
New River in the late 1950s when they chose to build the
In Austin, there is a plan to demolish part of Interstate 35,
Kinney Tunnel.
burying part of it and covering the buried lanes with a new
tree-lined boulevard. In Seattle, they are replacing a shoreline Las Olas would be much different than the fashionable street of
freeway with a tunnel to reconnect the waterfront to shops and restaurants that exists today. There would be a large
downtown. And Dallas has buried a freeway in the heart of bridge servicing Federal Highway right in the center of the
downtown to create parks, playgrounds and gardens. street between the Riverside Hotel and the Stranahan House.
While it is true that the world is full of beautiful bridges, any If you want to speak out about this matter, please send an
that readily come to mind are ones that span large email with your concerns to my chief of staff, Scott Wyman,
waterways like the Golden Gate Bridge and Tampa’s and he will collect them and distribute to the appropriate state
Sunshine Skyway Bridge. The impact of those bridges would and county officials. He can be reached at
be the opposite if they ran through their city centers. The swyman@fortlauderdale.gov. RV
same can be said for building an elongated 17th Street Yours,
Causeway through downtown. FDOT says that a bridge can
be integrated into our city, but the concepts offered are
painting the bridge supports to look like dominos or Legos.
Meanwhile, we’ve reached out to some of the world’s foremost Dean Trantalis
tunneling contractors to discuss the downtown crossing. All of Mayor, City of Fort Lauderdale
them say the cost is not nearly as astronomical as FDOT has

20 rio vista civic association • www.riovistaonline.com