YOUR VIEW EXTRA: ALL ABOARD FLORIDA Sebastian Schmid, Vero Beach Be prepared for jet sounds As a Swiss snowbird coming to Vero Beach for more than 40 years, I am shocked to read the news about the “All Aboard Florida” nightmare. As a citizen of the country with one of the best public transport systems in the world, I can only warn the population living near the tracks that their life will change drastically for the worse if the project should be realized. The noise of a train approaching and passing with more than 100 mph wakes up everybody sleeping and frightens children, elderly people and animals. In a way, it sounds like a jet plane passing at low altitude. In Vero Beach, I fear that the many restaurants at 14th Avenue would have to close, as guests would not be pleased to be disturbed by the noise of the passing trains. The whistling of the trains is also disagreeable, but less frightening than the passing trains. The experience of most railways — including the Swiss — is that they are often in deficit. The taxpayer regularly has to cover the hole in the accounts. So it is inconceivable that federal or state funding should help start this monster, which has little effect on the ecology as the number of cars on the roads will be reduced only marginally. By the way, in Switzerland the construction of secure crossings and noise barriers is a task of the railway corporation and not of the town or county. I do not mention the danger of train derailments in towns. Experience shows that such accidents can cause up to hundreds of killed people living in the neighborhood. So, I hope that a massive movement of opposition will form and that the politicians in Florida will fight this project with all their might. Susan Biggs, Vero Beach Time to oppose plan with feds What are they thinking — as many as 64 trains a day? We now hear nightly train whistles blow and lumber through our residential community from the 14 trains of FEC Industries identified by Bruce Abernethy in his March 23 guest column. An additional 64 trains daily is absurd. We will suffer incredible noise pollution, traffic tie-ups at every crossing all without any benefit to the Treasure Coast. Abernethy indicates we will have bullet trains through our communities every 30 minutes, 6 a.m.-9 a.m. To accomplish this a second set of tracks will have to be built to allow both north- and southbound trains. How is anyone going to cross over the tracks during business hours? This represents a very negative impact on local businesses and property values. If such a train is necessary, please support the use of the railroad currently in the middle of the state and away from high-density populations. Supporters of All Aboard Florida should be ashamed of themselves. The only winners will be Disney and the casino interests in the Miami area. It is time to petition your elected officials and put a stop to this effort. Contact the Federal Rail Administration to voice your objection at fra.gov, or mail 1200 New Jersey Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C. 20590. We must halt this before it is too late and we lose the reason we chose the Treasure Coast as home. Brigitte Rick, Palm City Can you imagine our nightmares? Imagine all the people sitting in a restaurant enjoying a meal, visiting the Green Market, listening to an open-air concert — in Downtown Stuart, breathing in CO2 of idling car engines at Confusion Corner or any other crossing waiting for trains speeding by. Imagine people of Stuart trying to take a nap, almost asleep when the train horn blows. Imagine being on Monterey, Bridge Road or any other railroad crossing on your way to work, school, your doctor, the beach or Elliott Museum, and 32-plus times a day the barriers are closed. Imagine taking your family for a boat ride or fishing, queuing on the Roosevelt Railroad Bridge, fighting the current and the captain’s mood swings, hoping the ancient bridge will open this time, too. Imagine the business opportunities for taxi or shuttle bus drivers, all the hot dog and lemonade vendors serving all those families and tourists on their way to City Place, Disney World, gambling casinos, etc., every hour courtesy of All Aboard Florida. Now, imagine trains going from Miami to Orlando farther west than through our community. Voice your imaginations and opinions before they become reality, because this project will affect us all. Walter W. McKay, Palm City School buses face dangers With all the uncertainty about All Aboard Florida, I would like to point out one example that should be examined and considered. In the past 10 months, the Martin County School Board (transportation department) has had four bus operators terminated or reassigned for not following the property procedures at railroad crossings in Martin County. As a retired locomotive engineer with more than 25 years experience, I’ve been witness to many near vehicle hits and a few fatalities at railroad crossings, one involving a school bus. That operator was immediately terminated. The thought of an extra 30 trains a day at railroad crossings makes me very anxious and concerned. Clark Trerise, Port St. Lucie Why not push for alternative? We are snowbirds enjoying our stays for many years in the Port St. Lucie area. We are very concerned with the everyday hoopla going on and on and on with pros and cons of the proposed high-speed rail service between Orlando and Miami. The whole concept is so far beyond reason or common sense, it makes all citizens between these two cities wonder: Why ruin our communities and future growth for the establishment of this costly and hazardous venture? A guest column by Bruce Abernathy explained the big picture as regards the rail line’s major benefits to Disney and Orlando, along with proposed Miami casinos, and nothing in between. Only once have we read of an alternate route for this venture. Look at a map of Florida and look west of Florida’s Turnpike: lots of orange groves, range land and swamps. Buy up some rights of way, build a few overpasses and lay new safer, up-to-standard tracks. Sure, it may cost more but the danger and disturbance would be so much less this should be considered. Michael Izzi, Fort Pierce Older track poses hazards I am writing regarding the plans to run a high-speed train through the southeast coast of Florida. The All Aboard Florida project will run highspeed trains from Orlando to Miami with stops in West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale. These runs would include 16 round trips though the Treasure Coast in addition to seven freighttrain round trips and will have a huge impact on the coastal communities of Vero Beach, Fort Pierce, Jensen Beach, Stuart, Hobe Sound and Jupiter to name a few. It seems we must now be faced with solving the problems of noise pollution, traffic crossings and disruptions, local maintenance, safety and safety expenses without reaping any benefits from such a route. Having lived in the area 24 years, I am also very concerned about the ability of the rail lines through this area to safely accommodate highspeed bullet trains. I believe the ties are quite old and the stone beds are settled and quite narrow in places. The lateral forces on those rails are subject to the square of the velocity of the train, so a train going at 100 miles per hour around a curved path will exert 25 times the lateral force as a train going at 20 miles per hour. I’m sure inspections of the rail along the route are planned, but in engineering, Murphy’s Rule always applies, i.e., “if something can go wrong, it will.” It seems to me if such a route is warranted, the rail should be routed through a less populated area along Interstate 95, where the myriad of mainland-to-island crossings, operating bridges, boat traffic and proximity of private homes doesn’t exist. We are all awaiting a good local and statewide cost-benefit analysis to understand why it is warranted, however. Gertrude Bradley, Vero Beach Where’s EPA in this mess? All Aboard Florida is planning to send its bullet train racing through our town 32 times a day at 110 mph. It wants us to pay for part of this, destroying our town and our way of life. How has this monstrosity gotten this far? Every time I read about “quiet zones,” I get sick. We don’t want these trains, period. Where is Environmental Protection Agency involvement in this travesty? A passenger train passes the wreckage of a train as personnel restore the track in santiago de compostela, spain, on July 27, 2013. derailment of a speeding train killed 78 people and injured dozens more. some residents cite safety concerns in opposing a high-speed rail route that would run through the treasure coast. AssociAted Press file Photo
Posted on: Wed, 02 Apr 2014 10:25:02 +0000
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