Sanford – The Florida Department of Transportation, together with local and federal funding partners from the Federal Transit Administration and community leaders from the city of Orlando and Volusia, Seminole, Orange and Osceola counties on Monday, April 25, 2016 will celebrate the official start of construction to add four more stations to the SunRail system south of Sand Lake Road.
The groundbreaking celebration will begin promptly at 10 a.m., near the site of the future Tupperware Station in Osceola County, the Gateway Station Shopping Center, 1307 East Osceola Parkway, Kissimmee, Florida 34744. Participants should please park near the Buffalo Wild Wings Restaurant, and proceed to the tented area to partake in the festivities.
This historic event will celebrate the first expansion of SunRail, which began operations on May 1, 2014 and currently serves 12 stations between DeBary in Volusia County and Sand Lake Road, south of the city of Orlando. The planned expansion will add four stations to the system at Meadow Woods, the Tupperware Station, the Kissimmee Station adjacent to the current Amtrak station in downtown, and the Poinciana station. The $187 million project is funded 50 percent by the Federal Transit Administration, and 25% each by the state of Florida and local funding partners.
The project is a 17.2-mile extension of existing SunRail service, which now operates on 32 miles of the Central Florida Rail Corridor. In addition to building four new stations, upcoming construction work includes grade crossing improvements, construction of a vehicle storage and layover facilities at the Poinciana station, installation of a second track along most of the corridor, and an upgraded signal system. Middlesex-Herzog, a joint venture, was awarded the Design-Build construction contract this spring by the Florida Department of Transportation. The work should take about two years, and the expansion is expected to open for passenger service in early 2018.
Public participation at this event is solicited without regard to race, color, national origin, age, sex, religion, disability or family status. Persons who require special accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act or persons who require translation services (free of charge) should contact Ms. Jennifer Smith, FDOT District Five Title VI Coordinator, 719 S. Woodland Boulevard, DeLand, FL 32720, or by phone at 386-943-5367, or by email at jennifer.smith2@dot.state.fl.us.
Questions? Please contact Steve Olson at 386-943-5479 or at steve.olson@dot.state.fl.us or Jessica Ottaviano at 386-943-5473 or jessica.ottaviano@dot.state.fl.us.