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MPO presents US‑27 multimodal freight/rail feasibility study to Southwest Ranches council
Summary
A Broward MPO planner told the council that a refreshed US‑27 feasibility study could examine adding freight rail and multimodal improvements; earlier 2012 numbers estimated $763M (highway only) to $1.2B (multimodal) and projected long lead times — the study is not yet funded.
Paul Flavian, planning staff with the regional MPO, briefed the Town of Southwest Ranches council on the background and status of a feasibility study for US‑27 that has considered multimodal options including freight rail.
Flavian said earlier work (a 2012 PACE study and follow‑up analyses) found that adding rail to a US‑27 corridor could be feasible and might divert a portion of freight traffic away from congested east‑coast corridors. The 2012 capital cost estimates were roughly $763 million for highway‑only improvements and about $1.2 billion for a multimodal alternative; those figures predate 12 years of cost inflation. The earlier study suggested 75 miles of track, multiple rail bridges, and substantial roadway widening would be required; operators and long‑term maintenance arrangements remained to be defined.
Flavian said Southeast Florida regional partners and FDOT are pursuing a refreshed study and that, if funded, the next step would be a PD&E (project development and environmental) process with more detailed environmental analysis, outreach and mitigation planning. He emphasized that the study is a feasibility screen — not a construction decision — and that funding has not been confirmed.
Councilmembers asked about timing; Flavian said transport projects of this scale can take decades from concept to construction and that any new FDOT study would be vetted by MPO committees before moving forward.
