Brightline Is Coming To Our Town | Martin County Moment

Well, Brightline had a big win last week with Florida’s approval to issue $1.15 billion in tax-free private activity bonds. With this development, Washington’s acquiescence in issuing the necessary permits, and several losses in the courts; it appears that Brightline is going to come through the Treasure Coast, Martin County and Stuart. This is something I thought would never ever happen. I was wrong.

I guess it doesn’t hurt that the fix was in from the beginning. The large counties to the south and north, with the bulk of Florida’s population, wanted it. The political insiders, including Governor Scott, wanted it. And the politicians in Washington, who expedited permits and approvals wanted it. In other words, the Treasure Coast didn’t stand a chance in stopping it.

It doesn’t matter that the train makes no sense economically. Those that will buy the bonds know that the government will step in if failure comes before the payments are finished. Washington and Tallahassee have sent out enough signals that this will occur.

Should Martin County and Stuart continue to close their eyes and pretend that Brightline is just a bad dream? We will absolutely spend millions of taxpayer dollars in the coming years for maintenance at our railroad crossings. So, what can we do?

Brightline wants to place a station in Stuart. But they want to make sure that we are enthusiastically on board, so to speak. Before jumping up and down and screaming “No Way,” we should not only consider it but affirmatively want it. I have two big reasons for saying yes. One, if we are going to have all the negative effects I would like to see a benefit. Having a station is a benefit.

The second reason is that less than a decade ago we were talking about building a multi-modal transportation center including a Tri-Rail or Amtrak stop. If Brightline wants to build the station on private property, not using Stuart or Martin County funds, then how could we stop them, or should we? All along the Treasure Coast has acted as if we had a veto over Brightline. Guess what, we never did. Federal and State law was always in the railroad’s favor.

Maybe it is time to take the bushels of lemons that are on our doorstep and make lemonade.