News: Transit Traffic on the FEC (East) Railroad

There is a whole bunch of news to report as it relates to the potential for transit on the FEC railroad tracks. FDOT has completed the first phase environmental impact assessment for the project. See cover of report below:



Please click here for access to the project's website - FAQ section.

Funny how things happen. I bumped into Kim Delaney from Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council last Wednesday at the Lake Worth Lagoon Symposium. We had met a couple times before when I was chair of the Planning and Zoning Board about the prospect for a Transit Oriented Development project in Lake Worth - at the Seaboard Rail tracks (west - where Tri-Rail and Amtrak trains run) and for the Florida East Coast tracks (east - only freight traffic). I asked about the status of the FEC transit project and she talked about the study that had been completed (above). This is the first tier report and another more refined report is in the process of being prepared now.

She said that she was disappointed that Lake Worth didn't score higher in relation to other communities in terms of priority for transit and is working for the priority to be raised. She said that intuitively, everyone acknowledges that Lake Worth should be a high priority stop on this transit line, given our grid street pattern, historic interest, beach, entertainment, etc, but that isn't reflected in this initial study.

Below are the sections of the study that she was referring to: (remember - images can be brought up larger in another window by clicking on them)



The selected pages here tell a couple of interesting tales about where the City of Lake Worth stands in the "municipal marketplace" within the South Florida region. They also highlight the importance of a Community's Comprehensive Plan as it relates to priority setting for federal, state and private grant funding and how it's important to keep the Comprehensive Plan current as new issues arise and priorities shift.

For example, the table above indicates that among municipalities within Palm Beach County, Lake Worth is "Transit Supportive but no policies and/or implementation" as compared to West Palm Beach or Delray Beach. The good news here is that the draft EAR based amendments for our Comprehensive Plan have a new future land use designation for "TOD" - Transit Oriented Development. Look at the end of this post to see the specific language. Furthermore, the text above indicates that the most effective areas are those that "focus their economic and redevelopment efforts around or in anticipation of greater transit mobility." It then mentions the existence of CRAs (Community Redevelopment Agencies) and brownfield designations (our entire CRA is a designated brownfield) along with housing and commercial growth as parameters that contribute to the framework for greater transit use.

Sometimes it does one good to look in the mirror and get an unflinching assessment of how you are appearing to others. Well, that's what these tables do as it applies to the City of Lake Worth in relation to other municipalities in the three county region. I consider this report to be an un-biased assessment of where Lake Worth stands in existing and future redevelopment trends as it relates to residential growth - and the prevalence of service, industrial and commercial employment. The tables read from bottom to top - smaller to larger communities and right to left - density of the specific attribute. Lake Worth is identified as a mid to large community with moderate to high residential density. Note that Lake Worth is not underline, which would indicate that Economic Research Associates (authors of the study) did not think that Lake Worth would experience a rate of relative growth in the upper quartile as compared with other communities in the corridor. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is not an example of over-development.


More telling are the other tables related to different types of employment. Lake Worth has a small to mid-size concentration of service related employment. This category can be office workers to your corner barber. Lake Worth has a "low" service employment density - which puts us in a category with Lake Park and Lantana - both of which are projected to increase service employment significantly over time. In this way, Lake Worth is under-performing to its potential - both of the other communities are significantly smaller than Lake Worth and do not have the amenities and quality of life potentials that Lake Worth does. This is where we have to self-analyze and ask why are we under-performing in relation to our potential.

I think we are seeing an awakening of this service employment category. Perhaps those that prepared this study did not take into consideration the amount of office space currently proposed or under construction - the Vive Verde building(s), the Promenade at the southeast corner of 2nd Avenue and Federal and other potential projects.


Below are excerpts from our draft Comprehensive Plan language that address the Transit Oriented Development future land use designation:




By adopting this future land use designation, we move Lake Worth's priority up the list in relation to other municipalities - expediting the time that we will have a station or stations within the City. If we do not adopt language such as included in the draft, then we limit ourselves in relation to other communities that are competing for the same dollars and people that we are. We are in a competitive marketplace and for the sake of our future place in the regional economy, we have to make sure that we have the regulatory framework in place to encourage transit and transit oriented development.

This cannot be another way for those that want to keep Lake Worth down to deny our rightful future as a green City - environmentally and economically speaking. It concerns me when Commissioner Jennings proclaims that higher density along our corridors, in proximity to the FEC railroad should be kept lower. Doing so diminishes our chances for a successful regional mass transit alternative. Instead, she says that people are only going to drive their cars and they won't use mass transit - so its useless to try. This coming from our most environmentally progressive Commissioner.

Let's hope that as this progresses through the review and approval process (first meeting at the Planning and Zoning Board on the EAR based amendments to the Comprehensive Plan will be on June 6th) that a rational and strategic vision will prevail.