All Aboard Florida asked to pay for Palm Beach projects

All Aboard Florida may have to pay for several downtown West Palm Beach projects, including pedestrian bridges and an access road.

The $2.5 billion passenger rail service from Miami to Orlando downtown platform and retail facilities will close off Datura and Evernia streets at Quadrille Boulevard, according to the Palm Beach Post.

“This is a priority because one of the strongest aspects we have downtown is the grid system of streets,” said city spokesman Elliot Cohen. “If you are going to construct something that will chop that grid in half at two key intersections, you have to make other allowances.”

West Palm Beach Mayor Jeri Muoio said this week that she is sympathetic to the concerns of residents affected by All Aboard Florida, but that she nevertheless remains supportive of the plan.

“We are in a position here to get the positive economic impact that our neighbors to our north won’t,” she said. [PBP] – Christopher Cameron