VERO BEACH — The Vero Beach City Council Tuesday voted to establish an ad-hoc High Speed Rail Commission to provide input on the anticipated All Aboard Florida project.
The new commission came at the urging of Vice Mayor Tracy Carroll, who has expressed concerns about how All Aboard Florida would impact the city financially.
The passenger trains would run up to 110 miles per hour 32 times per day from Miami to Orlando, stopping in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach and passing through Indian River County on the way. Vero Beach has seven crossings.
The council instructed staff to include representation from the city’s engineering department, Main Street Vero Beach, the Chamber and the Planning and Zoning Commission.
The commission will be tasked with reviewing construction plans from All Aboard Florida and analyzing what the city may need to do to secure Quiet Zones, which restrict trains from blowing their horns as they whiz through town from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Quiet Zones could cost the city $500,000 each or more for the safety equipment that would be required in lieu of the horn blasting.
“It won’t be just a passenger train, it will be a leisure experience,” said All Aboard Florida spokesman Rusty Roberts.
All-Aboard Florida will hold a workshop the week of Dec. 9 in cities up and down the route. Roberts said the project will be ready to break ground before the year’s end in Dade County.
