Monday, March 29, 2010
Transportation officials say construction on Florida's high-speed rail could begin in a year or a little less. They're in the process of refining cost estimates and plans for the work. But Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer says the Orlando area is much closer to being ready to start work. He says Orlando is close to being shovel ready for work, and Orlando has had a lot of thinkers working on the idea of high speed rail for years. He says they have a lot of planning work to do, but says they're isolating parts of the work they could start soon, like establishing barrier walls along the rail corridor. Dyer also says its important to show how successful this job can be, because other parts of the country will be watching to see how the stimulus money is used. The first leg of the high speed rail, funded primarily with stimulus money, is supposed to connect Orlando and Tampa. Some work could start by the end of this year, or the first part of 2011.