Miami commissioners fund port tunnel

Miami commissioners fund port tunnel The Miami City Commission Thursday approved a $50 million city contribution for the Port of Miami tunnel project, providing the key final portion of the local funding match for the $914 million project.
   The 3-2 vote to provide $50 million in cash and rights of way valued at $5 million for the port tunnel capped weeks of negotiations involving city and county officials, and ended fears the city commission might be able to kill the port tunnel, in spite of strong support from Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, Miami-Dade County, and much of the local international trade community.
   'We're appreciative for the vote and for what it represents for the Port of Miami and this community. The three Miami commissioners who voted in favor showed great leadership,' said Port Director Bill Johnson after the vote.
   The tunnel project received backing from what had been a reluctant city commission after city and county officials completed an agreement to make the tunnel project part of a multibillion-dollar package of community development projects ( Florida Caribbean Connection Dec. 13), that included a new stadium for the Florida Marlins at the site of the Orange Bowl, an affordable housing and jobs programs for the economically challenged Overtown area in Miami, new museums and the renovation of Bicentennial Park off Biscayne Boulevard near the port entrance.
   The package will be financed in part by funds from the Omni Community Redevelopment Agency, a federally mandated taxing district near the port. The district will be expanded under the agreement to include the port and Watson Island, where the tunnel entrance on the MacArthur Causeway will be built.
   One reason for the opposition to the tunnel project was concerns that community redevelopment agencies (CRAs) funds would be used for a port project instead of the type of antipoverty programs that CRAs typically fund.
   The port tunnel will be funded by $462 million from the Florida Department of Transportation, $402.5 million from Miami-Dade County, and the $50 million from the city.
   The Port of Miami is slated to generate $43.5 million of the county share of $402.5 million.
   The final cost of the project could still vary depending on the difficulty involved in boring the 1.1-mile port tunnel. The state and county are building in a $200 million reserve fund for the project. But under the most difficult boring conditions, the port's cost share could increase to $143.5 million.
   Johnson said the costs wouldn't be known for certain until boring is underway in 2011 and geotechnical conditions are determined.
   There have been concerns that the port may need to impose tolls to cover costs, and Johnson said that option may have to be examined if the port cost share approaches $65 million to $75 million or more. But he said that is only one possibility. Even with higher costs, the port might need the 'toll or some other method besides that.'
   Johnson said both cargo and cruise customers had expressed reservations about the costs associated with the project, and said he had been meeting with numerous port partners to shore up support for the project in the days before the city commission vote.
   Johnson said that if port revenues reach anticipated levels in the years ahead, and if the cost of the boring is not at the high end, the project should be completed without resorting to tolls.
   The tunnel project is scheduled for completion in 2012. An international consortium selected by the FDOT and endorsed by the county will have a 30-year concession on the tunnel. ' Jim Dow