By Mary Hladky
Two years after ecstatic City Council members approved a deal that allowed Brightline to build a Boca Raton train station, construction has begun.
Brightline announced on Dec. 21 that it has started work on a 4.5-story, 455-space parking garage on city-owned land along the Florida East Coast Railway tracks immediately east of the Downtown Library.
The company expects station construction will begin in early 2022 after it signs a construction contract. All work is projected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Construction is starting about a year later than anticipated in part because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which forced the high-speed train company to halt passenger service in March 2020. Service resumed in November.
Another reason for the delay is that Brightline and the city sought, and later received, a $16.3 million U.S. Department of Transportation grant to help pay for the station and garage.
Brightline will pay $20 million of the station cost, and the city will spend $9.9 million on the garage.
“The community of Boca Raton has shown great enthusiasm and support for this station which we believe is vital to the connectivity of the communities from Miami to Orlando,” Brian Kronberg, Brightline’s vice president of development, said in a statement.
Mayor Scott Singer said the station would bring riders to cultural, dining and shopping attractions in the city.
“So many residents and businesses have discussed how Brightline will be a game changer for Boca Raton,” he said. “We can’t wait to say ‘all aboard in Boca Raton!’”
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