Miami-Dade’s mayor is throwing some cold water on Brightline’s plan to build a $927 million commuter rail line for the county between Miami and Aventura, saying the latest version of the tax-funded project has too many downsides to get her support.
“We want to reach an agreement with Brightline that brings commuter rail service to our residents while protecting taxpayers,” Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s office said in a statement this week. “The agreement as currently proposed does not meet that standard, but we remain committed to working with Brightline to reach a deal that does.”
Known as the Coastal Link, the project would use existing Brightline tracks to create an eastern alternative to the Tri-Rail commuter service, with street-level trains running along U.S. 1 at stations in Wynwood, Little Haiti, Florida International University’s Biscayne Bay campus and other stops near the coast.
Because Miami-Dade doesn’t have to buy land or elevate a rail line, the Coastal Link project would cost far less than the billions of dollars needed to build the other rail lines contemplated in the county’s SMART Plan — a long-range transit blueprint that has yet to produce new train service.
The county has lined up federal and state funding for the bulk of the construction cost, with Miami-Dade expected to contribute about $370 million. It would also cover the annual operating costs, starting at about $37 million a year, plus a $15 million track-access fee to Brightline for the first 30 years.
Brightline wants to close the deal soon, and it would provide a welcome future cash stream as Brightline navigates a restructuring process that saw some corporate entities tied to the rail company file for federal bankruptcy protection in September.
There is some momentum behind the project. The state this week ratified a prior pledge of $200 million for the project, and Carnegie Mellon recently announced plans for an expansion campus near one of the Coastal Link’s planned stops in Wynwood. The campus plans are tied to a $3 billion donation from local hedge-fund mogul Ken Griffin, who is also behind the Partnership for Miami, a business group that lobbied for Coastal Link funding in both Tallahassee and Washington.
Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins, who lobbied for Coastal Link federal funding while she was a county commissioner, issued a glowing statement Wednesday about the project after Florida’s decision to put the project’s $200 million in its five-year transportation plan. “This project will make a tremendous difference for our city,” she said. “I look forward to supporting Miami-Dade County as it brings this transformative project across the finish line.”
But with Miami-Dade shouldering most of the long-term costs, Levine Cava’s support is a vital piece of the political puzzle Brightline and its allies are trying to assemble to make the project a reality. For now, the company and the mayor are at odds over the deal.
“This project is shovel-ready, runs on an existing rail corridor, has strong community and business support, and delivers more value per County dollar than any other project in the SMART Plan,” Brightline said in a statement. “This project is at the finish line, and we need County leadership to close the deal so we can keep Miami moving.”
Brightline has been negotiating with county administrators over a rail deal since before Levine Cava became mayor in 2020, and the project offers the term-limited Democrat her last chance to launch a mass-transit project before leaving office in 2028.
But with rising costs already squeezing the transit budget and the potential for a sweeping property-tax cut if voters approve the state’s Amendment 3 referendum, Levine Cava has so far declined to advance the Coastal Link toward a vote before the County Commission.
Until the summer, Brightline executives were hopeful they could get the project before commissioners for approval this year. That was when the negotiations were headed by Jimmy Morales, the Levine Cava deputy who was forced out in June over friction with the mayor over how much Miami-Dade should pay to acquire a fuel depot for PortMiami.
Now the Brightline talks are overseen by Levine Cava’s new top aide, Deputy Mayor Roy Coley. Under Coley, the county recently hired a consultant, Newmark, to critique the latest version of a potential Coastal Link deal.
The September report, obtained by the Miami Herald, came back with several concerns. One centered on potential delays and disruptions from the bankruptcy and restructuring process underway around Brightline, including the need for short-term extensions on debt payments.
It cites a long-running dispute between Brightline and a cargo-train company that also has access to the tracks — a rift that would need to be resolved before the Coastal Link project could proceed.
The Newmark report also knocks the draft deal for saddling Miami-Dade with too many risks of cost overruns and other risks that a private company would typically shoulder in a venture like this one.
Brightline is questioning the report’s methodology and thoroughness, noting the consultants did not speak to anyone at the rail company.
In summarizing the report in a memo to Levine Cava, Coley said the current agreement as hashed out between the administration and Brightline needs to be reworked.
“That is not opposition to the Northeast Corridor or to expanded rail service,” Coley wrote in the memo, which the Herald received through a request for public records. “Federal and State funding is valuable, but outside funding does not cure a deal whose costs, access rights, and protections remain uncertain. The County can continue pursuing the corridor while declining to accept this agreement as written.”
Doug Hanks covers Miami-Dade government for the Herald. He’s worked at the paper for more than 20 years, covering real estate, tourism and the economy before joining the Metro desk in 2014.
