MELBOURNE, Fla. – Tensions are rising in Melbourne as the city tangles with Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) over proposed safety upgrades at local train crossings.
The city wants to install additional gates at a number of crossings to enhance safety, but FEC’s approval is required— and they’re not on board.
During a recent city council meeting, frustration boiled over. One council member expressed, “I mean, this is just plain, downright, strong arming,” highlighting the contentious nature of the negotiations.
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Melbourne, with 22 train crossings – the most of any city in Brevard County – recently worked on a grant proposal with the Space Coast Transportation Planning Organization on a project that would yield two benefits: new quad gates to enhance safety at crossings, and with those safety upgrades, the opportunity to cut down on train horns by getting federal approval for quiet zones through the city.
Vice Mayor Yvonne Minus shared her concerns about the standoff saying, “It’s been very disheartening for the community and as well as for me,” she said, puzzled by FEC’s resistance. “I cannot understand why FEC does not support having safety measures put up in this community.”
Specifically, the grant proposal would make upgrades to the following five crossings (from north to south):
- Masterson Street
- New Haven Avenue
- Prospect Avenue
- WH Jackson Street
- Jernigan Avenue
Each of five crossings would be upgraded from two gates to four gates making it all but impossible for vehicles, bicyclists, and pedestrians to go around a closed gate to try and beat a train. Two recent collisions with Brightline trains, one on Jan. 10 and the other two days later – both at WH Jackson Street – killed three people and injured three others.
The drivers of those vehicles were caught on camera going around closed gates. Brightline uses FEC tracks through Melbourne for their service between Miami and Orlando.
The proposed safety upgrades carry a price tag of over $4.3 million, with a federal grant expected to cover 80% of the costs and the city handling the remaining 20%. Florida East Coast Railway and Brightline would incur no initial cost for the upgrades; maintenance of each new system would also fall to the city with a proposed budget of $10,000 each year for each crossing.
The city along with the Space Coast TPO was prepared to submit their grant application in July when they received the stunning news.
“In the course of that grant application, we learned that FEC is not going to approve or sign off on our grant,” City Manager Jenni Lamb told News 6 recently. Lamb explained that FEC’s stance is conditional: they want the city to close two crossings in South Melbourne (Prospect Avenue and Jernigan Avenue), a demand that city officials and community members find unacceptable.
Both crossings are in the vice mayor’s district.
“FEC has stated that if we do not support them closing [Prospect] and Jernigan, that they will not support the grant going forward,” she recently told News 6. “It is a bully tactic.”
Other local leaders, including Rev. Nathaniel Harris of Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, are worried about the impact. Harris’ church is a block and a half away from the Jernigan crossing.
“[I] don’t want to be racist, but it closes off the black community,” Harris told News 6, underscoring the potential inequity of the FEC demand. “FEC is out of St. Augustine…so they don’t know the impact. They could care less about what’s going on here. They could care less about the fact that this whole area was founded by black people.”
The city is seeking a face-to-face meeting with FEC and other stakeholders, but Lamb warns that organizing such a meeting could take up to six weeks to organize. Meanwhile, Melbourne’s leaders are committed to fighting for what they believe is a fair and necessary safety measure for their community.
News 6 reached out to both Florida East Coast Railway and Brightline for comment on this story but have not heard back as of this report.
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