Brightline will receive four safety grants totaling over $42 million to help fund critical safety projects in Florida.
The U.S. Department of Transportation announced on Tuesday that the grants are part of a backlog from the Biden Administration, with the oldest grant issued three years ago.
The four safety grants will support installing safety fencing, grade crossing upgrades and a trespassing alert system.
[WATCH BELOW: Brightline launches high-speed rail in Florida, connecting Orlando to Miami]
Here are what the grants are, according to the USDOT:
- A grant for $24,934,138 announced in August 2022 to the Florida Department of Transportation for improvements to 330 highway-railroad crossings, along 195 miles of corridor, including fencing, crossing delineators, crisis support signage and other intrusion prevention mitigations.
- A grant for $1,648,000 announced in September 2023 for a Trespassing Identification and Classification System under the CRISI Grant Program for FY22. The project will advance a technology that will provide real-time alerts and aggregate data to generate heat-maps of trespassing and potential collision events on the Florida East Coast Railway right of way from Miami to Cocoa.
- A grant for $15,440,000 announced in June 2023 to increase safety at 21 grade crossings along the Brightline/Florida East Coast Railway corridor with additional crossing gates and delineators.
- A grant for up to $150,000 announced in October 2024 for Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office to support overtime costs for targeted enforcement of pedestrian trespassing at identified hot spots.
These four grants are separate from a $4.9 million grant that Space Coast TPO was awarded back in January, called the Rail Crossing Elimination Program grant.
That program will allow the county to put up physical barriers at seven rail crossings in the Cocoa, Melbourne, and Micco areas.
Space Coast TPO is currently in the design phase for that plan.
“Safety is at the heart of everything we do. These large-scale federal investments will make a real difference for communities across Florida. We’re looking forward to advancing critical rail crossing improvements here on the Space Coast, through our separate RCEP grant, that will help protect lives and strengthen connections where our roads and railways meet,” said executive director Georganna Gilette, in a statement to News 6.
This announcement comes after an 83-year-old woman was killed in a fiery crash after driving into the path of a Brightline train in Brevard County.
[WATCH BELOW: Family speaks after 83-year-old killed in Brightline train collision]
The family of Eleanora Mitchell told Rockledge Community Correspondent James Sparvero the senior was on her way to Planet Fitness to work out, as she routinely did, when for unknown reasons, she drove through the railroad crossing arm at US-1 and Eyster Boulevard.
“People think, often, they can just beat the train,” former Amtrak conductor Mike Callanan told News 6’s James Sparvero Tuesday. “They’re in a hurry. They gotta get home or get to work.”
Brightline spent millions on safety in the county before trains ever ran through Brevard.
“I think the money could be used to improve rail safety and train awareness. However, you can’t really put money on just people using common sense and being aware of their surroundings,” Callanan said. “Brightline, unfortunately, has the highest rate of fatalities in the entire country of any railroad.”
When he worked for Amtrak, Callanan said he was involved in three fatal incidents involving people and his train.
“You remember it for the rest of your life,” he said. “I mean, your train, basically, struck and killed a human being.”
Last year, after police said two drivers caused deadly wrecks with Brightline trains in Brevard, the Space Coast Transportation Planning Organization talked about putting crossing arms on both sides of traffic lanes at more intersections in the county.