POLK COUNTY, Fla. — The older Abigail Ortiz gets, the less driving she wants to do.
“I don’t drive anymore. So I use public transportation,” Ortiz said.
Originally from Boston, Ortiz wishes a commuter train could quickly take her from Polk County to surrounding areas.
“I used to just jump on the train with my boys when they were young, and we just to go to Bean Town, New York, Connecticut. I think it would be great for this area,” she said.
The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is providing new details about a proposed SunRail extension down to Polk County.
FDOT's SunRail extension study projects expanding the commuter train from Poinciana to Lakeland would take almost 800,000 cars off the road annually, reducing crashes and greenhouse gases.
“There’s a huge traffic congestion issue going on. We are trying to widen our roads, build our roads, but at the same time, we are trying to see how can SunRail be extended into Polk County so it can benefit our residents,” said Parag Agrawal, Polk Transportation Planning Organization Director.
There would be seven SunRail stops across Polk County, including Auburndale, Davenport, Haines City, Lake Alfred, and Lakeland.
The projected annual ridership for the complete seven stations is estimated at 315,000, starting in 2035, according to FDOT’s study.
Interest in expanding into Polk County has existed for many years, but previous FDOT studies found that the population couldn’t support the ridership needed. With new census data, FDOT officials believe the county has enough riders.
“Polk County is the fastest growing county in the state of Florida. We have a population of about 800,000 people. So we are looking to see how we can provide multimodal transportation options,” Agrawal said.
Haines City is the number one preferred station location for a SunRail stop, according to an FDOT survey conducted earlier this year. The mayor of Haines City said residents are frustrated with traffic on Interstate-4- 4 and U.S. 27.
“Part of my population is employed around the Disney area, and that becomes problematic because now you’re putting a couple hundred people on the road every morning every evening, that would love not to have to do that,” said Roy Tyler, Mayor of Haines City.
The commuter rail service could cost $850 million to complete. It would be done in two phases. Local governments would pay the $12 million in annual operating costs.
“It’s not only about transportation. It's about economic development, job creation, and job retention,” Agrawal said.
The Polk County Transportation Planning Organization approved the SunRail extension study. FDOT’s SunRail extension study is now in the project development and environment phase.
