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RESOLUTION NO. 2020- 064 <br />A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY <br />COMMISSIONERS OF INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, <br />FLORIDA, IN SUPPORT OF THE PEDESTRIAN SAFETY <br />STUDY ACT INTRODUCED BY CONGRESSMEN POSEY <br />AND MAST <br />WHEREAS, the All Aboard Florida/Brightline/Virgin Trains higher speed passenger rail <br />system proposes to travel from Miami to Orlando International Airport by way of the Florida East <br />Coast Railway corridor; and <br />WHEREAS, All Aboard Florida/Brightline/Virgin Trains intends to operate 34 passenger <br />trains at a maximum speed of 110 miles per hour on the Florida East Coast Railway corridor <br />through populated areas of Indian River County, including Vero Beach, Sebastian, and the <br />communities of Gifford, Roseland, Wabasso, and Winter Beach; and <br />WHEREAS, Indian River County has significant safety concerns about All Aboard <br />FloridaBrightline/Virgin Trains traversing at such high speeds along an open railroad corridor and <br />across 31 highway -railroad grade crossings; and <br />WHEREAS, between 2018 and 2020, there have been 50 pedestrian deaths and 74 total <br />deaths involving all rail operations on the shared Florida East Coast Railway corridor; <br />WHEREAS, between 2018 and 2020, there have been 25 pedestrian deaths and 43 total <br />deaths involving only All Aboard Florida/Brightline/Virgin Trains higher -speed passenger rail <br />operations on the Florida East Coast Railway corridor; and <br />WHEREAS, in July of 2020, U.S. Representatives Bill Posey (R -FL) and Brian Mast (R- <br />FL) introduced the Pedestrian Safety Study Act to direct the Federal Railroad Administration <br />(FRA) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to study motorist and pedestrian safety <br />along the proposed All Aboard Florida/Brightline/Virgin Trains higher -speed train corridor; and <br />WHEREAS, upon the Pedestrian Safety Study Act becoming federal law, the FRA and <br />FHWA would be required to complete the Pedestrian Safety Study and provide a report to the <br />United States House of Representatives, the United States Senate, and the Florida Department of <br />Transportation within two years. <br />WHEREAS, an amendment offered by Representatives Posey and Mast to include the <br />Pedestrian Safety Study Act within House Resolution 76167, the Fiscal Year 2021 Appropriations <br />Act, was adopted with bi-partisan support by the United States House of Representatives on July <br />31, 2020; and <br />1 <br />