All Aboard Florida broke ground today for its downtown West Palm Beach station.
Over the next three weeks, both the Sewell Hardware and the Sasser Glass Buildings will be razed to make way for the station between Evernia and Datura Streets, right next to the Florida East Coast Railway corridor.
The grade crossings at those streets will be closed at the end of the year for construction. All Aboard Florida officials say they plan to build a new bypass road to run right in front of the station.
It would become part of an entirely new frontage road that has long been on the drawing board of West Palm Beach downtown planners, according to All Aboard Florida President and Chief Development Officer Mike Reininger.
“We’re really the catalyst for the realization of that important new road system that’s long been sought after in downtown West Palm Beach,” says Reininger.
The construction of the 60,000-square-foot West Palm Beach station is part of the first segment of the proposed Miami-to-Orlando train – which includes an intermittent stop in Fort Lauderdale. Company officials say all three South Florida stations will be completed by the projected launch of the first leg of the passenger rail, at the end of 2016.
The second leg – West Palm Beach to Orlando – is set to launch in 2017.
