Dyer Talking Commuter Rail In Tallahassee
ORLANDO – Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer is in Tallahassee Wednesday talking about commuter rail.
Central Florida is waiting on the final stamp of approval for the commuter rail plan.
“The Central Florida rail will lay a foundation for a larger regional transit system, and the need for commuter rail is clear,” Dyer said during a press conference from the capitol rotunda.
It is going to cost $491 million by some estimates, and the city of Lakeland is protesting the approval.
Lakeland said commuter rail in Orlando would mean more commercial trains coming through its city.
Dyer is meeting with a Lakeland lawmaker Wednesday, the same lawmaker who helped nix a high speed rail between Tampa and Orlando.
Dyer made it clear to News 13 reporter Troy Kinsey that commuter rail is needed and that all that is left is to get the state moving.
“This commuter rail project is critically important to our region for our quality of life, for environmental means, to aid in congestion. We’ve got a federal piece of it, we’ve got unanimous support from five local governments in Central Florida and we need to make sure we get the state piece moving, as well,” Dyer said.
According to Dyer, the concept of commuter rail in some form has been around for about 30 years.
“When Disney first started out, there was drawings along the same rail line for an elevated rail, and of course, we tried to do light rail about 15 years ago, but now we have widespread community support and great momentum to get this project down,” Dyer said.