STUART, Fla. — Brightline will build a new intermediate station in Stuart, Fla., the TC Palm newspaper reports.
Stuart City Manager Mike Mortell informed employees on Monday that the passenger operator had selected Stuart’s downtown site near the Martin County Courthouse. Brightline did not respond to the newspaper’s request for comment.
At least two other sites, both in Fort Pierce, Fla., were competing for the first intermediate station on Brightline’s Orlando-West Palm Beach segment, although the passenger service had declined to say if there were other offers [see “Fort Pierce, Stuart enter bids …,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 24, 2023]. All three sites are within about 20 miles of each other in the “Treasure Coast” area of St. Lucie and Martin counties; Stuart is about 40 miles north of West Palm Beach.
Stuart’s proposal, made jointly with Martin County, calls for a $60 million station, with the city and county contributing $45 million. The county would donate the site to the city, which would lease it to Brightline at $1 a year for 80 years. The 2.4-acre site is currently a parking lot; it would be home of an approximately 9,000-square-foot station and a parking structure with 200 to 450 spaces.
When Brightline announced it was accepting station proposals, it said it would aim to complete permitting in 2025, start construction in 2026, and begin service in 2028.
Fort Pierce Mayor Linda Hudson told the TC Palm that Brightline said Monday that no selection had been announced, and that it would notify all those who submitted proposals before making an announcement.
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