A proposed U.S. Coast Guard test program to require a railroad drawbridge over the St. Lucie River to stay open for longer periods of time may force Brightline, the higher speed train service, to cut its planned service to Orlando by half, railroad officials say.

The span is a critical segment that Brightline must use as part of its highly anticipated expansion to Orlando from West Palm Beach. The new passenger service is expected to start late this summer with 16 trains a day in each direction.

The bridge is also currently used by more than a dozen Florida East Coast Railway freight trains a day. The FEC owns and operates the bridge, which is part of a 351-mile coastal rail corridor between Jacksonville and Miami. Its freight trains move products ranging from automobiles, perishables and packaged foods, to building and industrial materials, ethanol, bio-fuels and liquid natural gas. Rail officials fear the proposed test will cause significant delays to and from  Port Everglades, the Port of Palm Beach and PortMiami.

The rule would require freight trains that are more than 2.5 miles long and all Brightline trains to stop when the bridge is open for marine use. The impact, according to Brightline and the FEC, would be to bring trains to a stop while they wait for the bridge to lower — blocking busy crossings along the rail corridor, including downtown Stuart.

Under current operating rules, the bridge is open until a train comes, allowing boats to pass through. Within 8 minutes of a train approaching, a red light flashes and the bridge goes down, then goes back up after the train passes.

During the test period envisioned by the Coast Guard, which would run from June 21 through December 17, the bridge “would open on signal at the quarter and three-quarter hour and remain open until all vessels requiring or requesting an opening have cleared, except any open period shall not exceed 15 minutes,” according to a notice the Coast Guard filed Thursday in the Federal Register.

“If a train is in the track circuit at the designated opening time, the opening may be delayed up to but not exceed five minutes,” the filing adds. “Once the train has cleared the track circuit, the bridge must open immediately, if requested, and remain open until all vessels requiring an opening have cleared.”

In a joint statement to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Brightline and the FEC called the proposed test period “deeply flawed and will result in dramatic impacts to local traffic, create safety issues for the public, and is impossible for freight and passenger railroad operations to comply.”

The companies also asserted that the plan  “was done unilaterally and without authority or regard for due process.”

“We will continue to pursue reasonable and equitable resolutions to the issue of bridge operations and simultaneously continue to encourage progress toward the ultimate solution which is the development of a new bridge and a Treasure Coast Brightline station,” they added.

Transparency pledge

On Friday, a Coast Guard spokesman based in Miami Beach said the military service is trying to account for the needs of everyone who has economic and other interests along and around the river.

“This has been an ongoing process,” said Lt. Commander John Beal. “For at least the past year it has been in the works.”

He added that the last opportunity for public comments was in July of last year. The clock started on a comment period this past Thursday.

“We will remain transparent and consider multiple interests while ensuring safe navigation and reasonable access for mariners,” the Coast Guard said in a separate statement.

The bridge issue has the attention of members of Congress.

Rep. Brian Mast, a Republican whose district covers the affected rail segment, has been an active advocate for local maritime interests, criticizing a repair plan that would close the bridge to boating traffic. He could not be reached for comment Friday.

But in a statement Friday, Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, a Democrat from Weston, said she and Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart are seeking to ensure that all business and residential interests are served by changes involving the bridge.

“Congressman Diaz-Balart and I are working very closely with Coast Guard and industry leaders to reach our mutual goal of protecting the safe, swift movement of traffic, cargo, and passengers throughout South Florida,” she said. “Adjusting this proposed, temporary Port St. Lucie River bridge alteration is important to ensure that it does not significantly impact commuters, supply chains or travel throughout our state, is in the best interest of all residents, businesses, and visitors.”

Local residents in May registered their opposition to Brightline’s plans in federal court. Thirteen businesses sued the FEC, Army Corp of Engineers and Coast Guard to stop Brightline’s proposed schedule, which would require the bridge to be closed to marine traffic for unacceptably long periods of time.

Perennial tensions

Over the years, tensions between the railroads spanning South Florida’s inland waterways and boaters and other marine interests that use them have been a prominent feature of the region’s transportation network.

In downtown Fort Lauderdale, the FEC corridor crosses the New River via a similar drawbridge that is just four feet above the water when the span is in the down position to let the trains pass by. In January, a mechanical failure prompted the FEC to keep the span down for two days, preventing boats from passing west of the rail line where a significant number of yacht maintenance centers are located.

The bridge is a short distance south of Brightline’s downtown Fort Lauderdale station, and slightly north of the point where the FEC uses a rail spur to deliver and pick up freight at Port Everglades.north of Fort Lauderdale.”]