Mayor and commission push for tunnel plan as county presses timetable; staff to draft coordinated resolution

Mayor and commissioners spent the majority of the meeting discussing a March 3 letter from the Broward County mayor outlining conditions for the New River crossing and asking the city to show a viable tunnel alternative within a set window or not oppose the county’s intention to pursue a bridge. The mayor said the letter’s language risked treating a bridge as the “only preferred alternative” and pressed the county for written clarifications of timelines, impacts and assumptions.

Commissioner Ben Rogers and staff reported outreach progress: consultants and international tunnel builders had expressed interest following the city’s vote in favor of exploring a tunnel and the county’s open posture; the Taft group and a consultant from the Port of Miami tunnel toured the city and reported industry interest. Florida East Coast Railway (FECR) representatives said they were open to supporting a tunnel in their right‑of‑way and discussed renewing a landscaping/maintenance lease that would allow the city to maintain and landscape sections of the right‑of‑way.

The commission repeatedly asked the county to put in writing any timeline flexibility and to supply comparable analysis for the county’s bridge concept. The mayor identified several substantive concerns he said were missing from the county letter: a full construction and interference analysis for the bridge option (including interruption to marine traffic and the need for construction barges), underpass constructibility at major intersections, and long‑term maintenance cost comparisons between bridge and tunnel alternatives. The mayor called certain county assertions “poison pill clauses” (for example, a seven‑month drop‑dead deadline and a 24‑month operational timeline) that the city could not accept without more detail.

Staff and commissioners agreed to continue pursuing tunnel proposals and to press for written commitments on timing flexibility. The commission directed staff to work with county attorneys on a draft joint resolution and to bring back a proposed text for commission feedback on April 1. Transportation staff said the MPO‑funded study of underpass viability (covering Davie, Broward, Cistrunk, Andrews and Sunrise) has not yet started; the city will follow up with the MPO for a timeline.

Ending: The commission did not adopt an immediate position to accept a bridge as default; instead it asked staff to produce a draft resolution with the county for the commission’s review on April 1, to continue tunnel outreach (including federal funding contacts), and to seek written county clarifications about deadline flexibility and bridge‑impact analyses.