Miami: MetroRail expansion to the airport begins construction

bobdreamz · #1 Posted **May 18, 2009, 4:32 PM**

FINALLY!

Work Begins On Metrorail Extension
Extension Will Connect Airport To Downtown Miami
POSTED: Friday, May 1, 2009

MIAMI -- Workers are breaking ground Friday on a new extension of the Metrorail line that brings the Intermodal Center at Miami International Airport one step closer to reality.

Plenty of pomp and circumstance surrounded the groundbreaking ceremony for the 2.4-mile extension of the Metrorail.

"This is the first major extension of our Metrorail system in over 20 years," said Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez. "We cannot minimize the importance of it. This will actually close the loop from the airport -- Miami International Airport, the third-busiest airport in the United States -- to downtown Miami.

The Earlington Heights connector will link downtown Miami with the Miami International Airport through the Miami Intermodal Center, which is currently under construction and set to open in 2010. Once the connection is built, it will be a straight shot to downtown. All riders will have to do is get off at the Brickell stop or stay on the line to Coconut Grove or even Dadeland South, Local 10's Todd Tongen reported.

The bulk of the $526 million project will be financed by the People's Transportation Plan, a controversial half-cent tax that was approved in 2002 after politicians made some promises they never delivered, Tongen reported.

On Friday, politicians admitted an east-west corridor has been a long time coming, but when it is finished, it will be good for business.

"Half of our passengers are business travelers. So they are coming here to do business primarily in downtown, and now you have a very quick and easy way to get straight to downtown," said MIA spokesman Greg Chin. "In one business day, you can fly in, go to downtown and fly out the same day."

Outspoken critics of the tax, like Miami-Dade County Commissioner Carlos Jimenez, are lobbying to repeal the tax, something that did not sit well with the mayor.

"Quite frankly, I find that irresponsible because we wouldn't be here today. We wouldn't even be here to connect the MIC to the Earlington Heights station, connect this loop, if it wasn't for that surtax," Alvarez said.

Jimenez was not at Friday's announcement.

Work also has begun on the MIA Mover, an electric tram that will connect the airport with the Miami Intermodal Center.

If the project runs on time, the Earlington Heights connector will open in 2012. When it is finished, it will not only cut down congestion, but it could change the way people visit Miami.

"Especially for tourists that don't want to catch a bus or don't want to rent a car and they want easier access to their hotel downtown and whatnot, so I think it will be good for the city," said Metrorail user Giovanni Carbo.

Check out the video since it contains renderings of the Miami InterModal Center next to the airport:

http://www.justnews.com/video/19343618/index.html

So Miami joins a exclusive club of US cities with heavy rail connections to their airports. What other cities besides NYC, Chicago and SF are there?

We have been waiting years for this so don't mind the obligatory

VivaLFuego · #2 Posted **May 18, 2009, 5:08 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobdreamz

So Miami joins a exclusive club of US cities with heavy rail connections to their airports. What other cities besides NYC, Chicago and SF are there?

Atlanta, Cleveland, Philadelphia, DC. If you include light rail, then add St. Louis & Minneapolis, and shortly Seattle. Probably a few other light rail connections, too.

As with most airport rail connections, at least in the US, the majority of users will be airport employees, not travelers.

bobdreamz · #3 Posted **May 18, 2009, 5:27 PM**

thanks for the info Viva. So now it's 8 cities with heavy rail & 2 with light rail so far. About the users that may be true but this extension goes into the inter modal center which already has a Tri Rail station that takes you all the way to W. Palm Beach as well.

BTinSF · #4 Posted **May 18, 2009, 5:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego

Atlanta, Cleveland, Philadelphia, DC. If you include light rail, then add St. Louis & Minneapolis, and shortly Seattle. Probably a few other light rail connections, too.

As with most airport rail connections, at least in the US, the majority of users will be airport employees, not travelers.

SF is apparently about to have rail to 2 airports. They are getting "stimulus" money to do the "people mover" connecting the Oakland Airport to BART as well as SFO.

Exerpt:

Quote:

the BART board on Thursday approved a funding plan to build a people mover connecting the Coliseum Station and the Oakland airport.

The project was billed as a chance to create thousands of new jobs and the 3.2 mile airport connector would transport passengers on an elevated track that bypasses street traffic and would cost as much as much as $552 million, according to current estimates. At the start of the decade the project's price tag was just $130 million.

Although the airport connector has been discussed for about 30 years and has had numerous starts and stops, the flailing economy may have given it the financial lift it needs to move forward with the infusion of $70 million in federal stimulus funds.

Source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...BAQF17KNQM.DTL

Cirrus · #5 Posted **May 18, 2009, 7:29 PM**

All three of DC's airports are either currently connected or soon will be to rail.

National Airport is already connected to Metrorail (and lots of passengers use the connection)
BWI is connected to Baltimore via Acela, Amtrak, MARC commuter rail and the Baltimore light rail, and it is connected to DC via Acela, Amtrak and MARC commuter rail.
Dulles will soon have a Metrorail connection to DC. The first phase is under construction now

Also, Denver has a connection to DIA under construction now. I think Dallas has one planned, if not yet under construction.

Denver will soon have a rail connection to DIA.

Buckeye Native 001 · #6 Posted **May 18, 2009, 7:43 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego

Atlanta, Cleveland, Philadelphia, DC. If you include light rail, then add St. Louis & Minneapolis, and shortly Seattle. Probably a few other light rail connections, too.

As with most airport rail connections, at least in the US, the majority of users will be airport employees, not travelers.

One of the Portland light rail lines (Red, IIRC) terminates at the airport.

brickell · #7 Posted **May 18, 2009, 8:20 PM**

Since everyone is compiling...

One of the arguments in getting this done was where to terminate the line. The final result is at an intermodal center across from the airport with a connection via a people mover type system. This would be similar to Newark and JFK I suppose, but not nearly as long of a ride.

So which airports have stations within the airport or terminal itself? O'Hare does.

dlbritnot · #8 Posted **May 18, 2009, 9:14 PM**

Don't forget Minneapolis' Hiawatha line connection (LRT)

Cirrus · #9 Posted **May 18, 2009, 9:32 PM**

Quote:

So which airports have stations within the airport or terminal itself? O'Hare does.

For DC:

National: Yes.

Dulles: Will be when complete.

BWI: Amtrak/MARC connection requires a shuttle connection, but the light rail connection is right at the terminal. So if you are coming from Baltimore then the answer is yes, but if you are coming from Washington then the answer is no.

bobdreamz · #10 Posted **May 18, 2009, 9:48 PM**

I forgot to add that Amtrak is already at the intermodal center so you will have 3 rail components in Metrorail, Tri Rail & Amtrak next to the airport.

L41A · #11 Posted **May 18, 2009, 10:08 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by brickell

Since everyone is compiling...

One of the arguments in getting this done was where to terminate the line. The final result is at an intermodal center across from the airport with a connection via a people mover type system. This would be similar to Newark and JFK I suppose, but not nearly as long of a ride.

So which airports have stations within the airport or terminal itself? O'Hare does.

Hartsfield-Jackson (ATL) does also. MARTA's (Atlanta's heavy rail system) Airport station is connected to both South and North terminals near baggage claim.

TexasBoi · #12 Posted **May 18, 2009, 10:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cirrus

All three of DC's airports are either currently connected or soon will be to rail.

National Airport is already connected to Metrorail (and lots of passengers use the connection)
BWI is connected to Baltimore via Acela, Amtrak, MARC commuter rail and the Baltimore light rail, and it is connected to DC via Acela, Amtrak and MARC commuter rail.
Dulles will soon have a Metrorail connection to DC. The first phase is under construction now

Also, Denver has a connection to DIA under construction now. I think Dallas has one planned, if not yet under construction.

Denver will soon have a rail connection to DIA.

Yep. Started construction last month from Downtown to DFW airport. It's the Orange Line. The Green Line and Orange Line will be connected by a people mover to Love Field airport.

This is great news in Miami but my family will probably still use Fort Lauderdale more. But trying to even drive around MIA is hell and thus the reason why we did not even try to flow into that airport.

orulz · #13 Posted **May 18, 2009, 10:54 PM**

Good to see the link to the airport. Wasn't there a plan for a line to Miami Beach sometime? Though I am sure that MB would say "NIMBY!" and do everything in their power to block it. Wouldn't want those "undesirables" getting such easy access to the beach now would we?

But anyway, a line from downtown to MB, perhaps with a station on Dodge Island (cruise terminal?) would seem to make sense. "Subway to the Sea," Miami style.

bobdreamz · #14 Posted **May 18, 2009, 11:02 PM**

actually orulz yes there was a proposed Metrorail extension to Miami Beach and was widely supported but their Mayor killed that idea. It still is in future plans but the county planners shifted their planning to other corridors instead.

volguus zildrohar · #15 Posted **May 19, 2009, 1:27 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by brickell

So which airports have stations within the airport or terminal itself? O'Hare does.

Philadelphia's R1 line stops directly at six of the airport's seven terminals. An escalator connects each terminal directly to the platform, which runs the length of the airport a la the State or Dearborn Street subways in Chicago.

Jasonhouse · #16 Posted **May 19, 2009, 1:58 AM**

I think it's interesting that Miami is basically using its airport as the hub for its public transport system. It seems much more typical that a city's main transit hub is downtown.

Jarrod · #17 Posted **May 19, 2009, 3:13 PM**

Doesn't Boston have a rail connection?

UrbanImpact · #18 Posted **May 19, 2009, 4:13 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jasonhouse

I think it's interesting that Miami is basically using its airport as the hub for its public transport system. It seems much more typical that a city's main transit hub is downtown.

The commuter rail line terminates there and not downtown. If they would switch/add the the other more eastern tracks, then downtown could also have a hub. Government Center kind of a hub of downtown with the integration of Metro-Rail and Metro-Mover at that station.

orulz · #19 Posted **May 20, 2009, 3:50 PM**

Why dont we turn this into a Miami Transit thread in general.

Tri-Rail is on the CSX tracks, which run by the airport. The tracks that go through downtown are on the Florida East Coast (FEC) line. There is a study in progress for passenger service (LRT, DLRT, Commuter rail, BRT - mode not decided yet) in the FEC corridor. This corridor is parallel to the CSX, between 2 and 5 miles east (closer to the shore) and through denser, more walkable neighborhoods.

There is a connection from the CSX to the FEC about 4 miles north of downtown. Maybe one possibility would be to run some Tri-Rail trains from the CSX over that connection, and on the FEC towards downtown.

brickell · #20 Posted **May 20, 2009, 4:13 PM**

More info:

Here's the intermodal center - http://www.micdot.com/index.html
It's a combination rental car facility and central station as they call it.
The Proposed Central Station

src: http://www.micdot.com/miami_central_station.html

Quote:

The MCS is an intermodal facility designed to accommodate various transportation connections, hence providing connectivity between transportation options. Built around the existing Tri-Rail tracks at its Airport Station, the MCS will feature grade level tracks for Tri-Rail, Metrorail (upon completion of the MIC-Earlington Heights Extension Project) and Amtrak rail service. East of the tracks will be a U-shaped public esplanade around which private vehicle parking will be available. This public space will be a gateway to the MCS around which bus depots will be located for Greyhound, Miami-Dade Metrobus, intercity buses, courtesy buses and shuttles currently serving MIA, and taxis.

An elevated pedestrian walkway will span across the rail tracks from the public esplanade into the MIA Mover's MIC Station. The MIC Station is located west of the MCS at the fourth level next to the RCC Customer Service Lobby. The MIA Mover will take passengers to and from Miami International Airport into the MIC. Upon their arrival they may choose to go into the RCC or proceed into the MCS via the elevated pedestrian walkway.

The MIC Program has also taken into account the Miami-Dade's Bicycle and Pedestrian Program and throughout the MCS facility provisions for bicyclists, as well as pedestrians, will allow them to safely move about and make their transportation connection.