STUART, Fla. — The U.S. Coast Guard plans to issue revised rules governing the Florida East Coast Railway drawbridge over the St. Lucie River in Stuart on Friday, Aug. 11, WQCS Radio reports — but details on those revisions are not yet public.
Operating rules for the bridge are a key concern for Brightline as it prepares to launch service between South Florida and Orlando at a still-to-be-determined date.
The new rules will take the form of an “updated temporary deviation” of the schedule, and will be in effect from Aug. 15 at 12:01 a.m. until Dec. 17 at 11:59 p.m. They will replace the current temporary deviation, which took effect June 21 and requires the bridge to be opened at 15 and 45 past each hour, for up to 15 minutes, to allow all boat traffic to pass. That plan drew a strong protest from Brightline and FEC over the potential impact on rail traffic, and also raised concerns that freight trains could block grade crossings in downtown Stuart for extended periods [see “Coast Guard to impose twice-hourly bridge openings …,” Trains News Wire, June 9, 2023].
The temporary deviation is intended to test the bridge operating plan. The new plan is slated to be published in the Federal Register on Friday, after which a 60-day comment period will begin.
WQCS quotes Rear Adm. Douglas M. Schofield, commander of the Seventh Coast Guard District, as saying, “We are engaged with the many stakeholders who have a vested interest in the final rulemaking for a bridge operating schedule, which includes the boating public, elected officials who represent the constituents in the communities most likely to be impacted, as well as Brightline and Florida East Coast Railway, amongst others.”
Brightline and FEC are residents in these communities too. Who is looking out for them.
From the picture it looks like a bridge of some sort crosses above the tracks, so any thought of raising the railroad to allow more boat clearance with the bridge closed might be very problematic. Perhaps someone who knows this area (I don’t) can clarify this.
Yes, there is a highway bridge (US-1 Roosevelt Bridge) that rises up and passes over the railroad ROW for the same channel the boats pass through. This newer bridge replaced the Dixie Highway bridge which is just to the left of the photo and also has a drawspan to allow boats to pass.
For a *new* rail bridge to be viable the rise in elevation would have to begin a significant distance south of where the current drawbridge is. As far back as St Lucie Ave. I dont have the calculations, but even that small elevation change would probably only get you a few more feet and still require a drawspan for larger boats. The noise of the engine lash ups working the grade in the middle of Stuart would not go over at all.
Also not noted in the article or in any of the commentary, guess whose office sits right in front of the FEC tracks in downtown Stuart just a couple hundred yards from the drawbridge? You got it, Congressman Brian Mast. A vocal opponent of Brightline and the one who strong armed the USCG into the new rules. If the FEC were to build a new bridge, it would block his view from his front office window of Stuart.
Maybe Mast should use his “political power” to get an infrastructure grant to have the FEC build a tunnel. Then he would be serving his constituents holistically. No more drawbridge. No more freight interference in downtown. No sight of Brightline. Everything can pass through and Stuart can go back to being that quiet bucolic white fence town.
Mast would probably try to get an infrastructure grant just to put his name on it saying look what I brought you, without telling his constituents that he and all the other Florida GOP “representatives” and “senators” voted against.
Realize that there are location problems but maybe build a high-level bridge?
The said conflict pits Brightline and Florida East Coast Railway -two train companies that need the bridge to cross the St. Lucie River- against several thousand recreational, commercial and industrial vessels that travel through the railroad bridge to get up and down the river.
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When the bridge is down for a train, it is so low to the water -6 feet- that most boats cannot pass underneath. When the bridge is up, boats can pass through easily, but obviously no trains can cross the bridge.
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I learn something new every day.
Maybe time has come to build a new railroad bridge over St. Lucie River.
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