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DRAFT Subject to modifications educational systems including colleges and universities, hospitals, and not-for-profit biomedical institutions. (5) Freight Rationalization The FEC rail corridor plays a critical role in the movement of freight through the region and state. The widening of the Panama Canal will enable cargo ships with three times the capacity of today's vessels to transport freight to Florida, and Port Miami and Port Everglades are currently being improved to accommodate these "PostPanamax" ships. Land uses along the FEC rail corridor have developed intensely over time, resulting in increased freight/land use conflicts. While freight trains produce significant noise and vibration impacts, passenger trains are lighter, faster, and shorter, making them easier to accommodate within an urban corridor. Freight trains also cause the greatest impact to marine navigation and bridge closures due to their slow speed and longer length. FDOT is currently evaluating the state's freight distribution network, which includes the inland CSX rail corridor and rail connections from the southern ports. To help reduce project impacts, the following mitigating measures are suggested: • Reallocate Freight to the CSX Rail Corridor: The impacts of freight rail traffic through the urban coastal corridor creates significant impacts today. The corridor cannot reasonably accommodate projected freight traffic along with AAF's proposed 32 additional daily trains. A long-term, holistic solution is needed to enable the FEC corridor to be utilized for higher -volume passenger rail service while reducing the number and intensity of long-distance freight trains. A multi-party agreement should be developed among FECI, CSX, and FDOT to address the rationalization of freight in southeast Florida. (6) Land Use Impacts The FEC rail corridor is the historic corridor connecting Florida's coastal communities. Beginning in the early 1900s, as train stations were established, these communities developed around them as the center of what are today's historic coastal downtowns. Working with FEC, local governments have invested substantial capital investment in parking and landscaping improvements in these downtowns, located in easements granted by FEC. The double -tracking proposed by the AAF project would significantly impact the economic and visual conditions of these communities and their ability to function. To help reduce project impacts, the following mitigating measures are suggested: • Reduce Impacts in Historic Downtowns: Although located on private lands leased from FEC, public parking and landscaping in historic downtowns is critical to their continued viability. FECI and local governments should work together to minimize impacts in historic downtowns to enable them to accommodate the proposed AAF improvements while balancing the long-term public/private agreements with FEC that have enabled them to become productive centers of commerce and residential activity. As the AAF project is designed, all efforts should be made to identify means in which the location of double tracking and sidings, and treatment of the edges of the 7 a5O . A 7.