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Planners Reveal The Pricetag On Light Rail From Miami To The Beach

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The numbers are in. The estimated cost of building a light rail line from mainland Miami to the beach is $532 million. And three key players are lining up in support of the proposal.

The mayors of Miami-Dade County, the city of Miami and the city of Miami Beach are backing the proposal to build a light rail line along the MacArthur Causeway.

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez has said previously that if traffic between Miami and Miami Beach gets worse it will kill the tourism industry.

RELATED: How Miami-Dade's Dreams Of Light Rail Look A Lot Like Its Past

In the early 1900s a trolley system ran between the mainland and the beach. The idea of reconnecting the two cities via rail has been around for a while and was almost realized in 2004 as the Baylink project. 

During a meeting Wednesday, the three mayors agreed to partner in the hunt to find funding for the next stage of the project: a development study.  But, significant challenges lie ahead like finding the money to build and operate the system, which is expected to cost $22 million a year to run. 

Read more from The Miami Herald

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