Wave Streetcar (Fort Lauderdale)

Found this project mentioned in an article about All Aboard Florida's Fort Lauderdale station. Although it doesn't seem to be any recent news, I thought I'd park a topic here.

[url=http://wavestreetcar.com/about_the_project[/url]

2014

In early 2014 it was announced that the Wave Streetcar project was recommended for $50 million in Small Starts grant funding in the Fiscal Year 2015 United States Department of Transportation budget, providing additional funding required to design and construct the project. A consultant is being procured for the Final Design of the project which will be completed during 2014-2015. Technical specifications are being developed for the procurement of the streetcar vehicles with a goal of receiving delivery of the vehicles in 2017.

As we get close to election time the locals will start talking this one up but as soon as elections are over with the subject will be dead until the next local elections. It has been that way ever since I have lived here 17 years now.
Noel Weaver

From Home - The Wave Streetcar

The project is scheduled to be awarded to a contractor in early 2018. There is a complete funding plan in place which includes an executed Federal TIGER grant and Federal Small Starts Grant.

So it looks like they are going ahead with it.

Everything of this nature around these parts is a big MAYBE, and so is this too.
Noel Weaver

All the construction bids were rejected in November because they were too high: $189M to $218M versus the previously estimated $114M. So the project is being revised for another round of bidding.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/browa ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Dead? Some think so: Sun Sentinel

Fort Lauderdale's Wave streetcar all but dead after new bids come in too high

NThe light rail streetcars would have run on or near Andrews Avenue from Northeast Sixth Street to Southeast 17th Street.

Fort Lauderdale’s newly elected commission was already on record wanting to abandon the project, even though the previous commission had pledged its continued support in February.ew construction bids unveiled Thursday appear to have derailed Fort Lauderdale’s Wave streetcar system and given wary city officials the opening they needed to back out of the project.

State transportation officials tried to lower the project’s cost by reducing its scope. But the new bids were still higher than the $142.5 million maximum that would have allowed the state to move forward with the streetcar system.

The low bid of $144.7 million was submitted by the Prince Contracting, Delta Railroad Construction group. A second bid, $154.8 million, came from the Stacy & Witbeck and Herzog Contracting group.
...
The light rail streetcars would have run on or near Andrews Avenue from Northeast Sixth Street to Southeast 17th Street.

Fort Lauderdale’s newly elected commission was already on record wanting to abandon the project, even though the previous commission had pledged its continued support in February.
...

UPDATE: today is a big day for this project.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/browa ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

DEAD!!! I could have told you that this would happen again, not the first time. No common sense here.
Noel Weaver

Yes, the Fort Lauderdale streetcar is dead on arrival.
It’s major problems why political support died was two fold, (1) construction bids came in too high, and (2) it moved traffic in the wrong directions. Broward County already has TriRail and will soon have Brightline trains moving traffic north to south, what’s really needed is something to move traffic east to west. Building anything within city streets in a downtown area is never cheap, and usually has costs escalating dramatically as time goes by.
It was also pushed by special interest, real estate developers instead of grassroots citizens, so when the bids came in too high the citizens had no skin in the game and were disinterest. You have to build things normal people want.