Station to be rebuilt

Winter Park residents learned more about how their new Amtrak Station could shape up after Mayor Ken Bradley introduced plans for a complete rebuild at Monday's meeting.

The city is in the preliminary design phase of the new station, which could be open as early as the end of 2011.

Bradley said that it could be larger and more accommodating to rail users as well as the general public.

"It'll be a little bit bigger for bathrooms, and they'll be integrated for the public using the park," Bradley said.

More specific physical features have yet to be determined as the city works through design and obtaining funding for the station, which is estimated to cost $1 million.

That money would come from the Federal Transit Administration; money which Bradley said is already earmarked for the station, but has yet to arrive.

In the meantime, city staff is poring over a preliminary design to work as a framework for the final design phase.

"I think as this initial design comes out, I'm sure we'll be looking at doing things that are architecturally significant," Bradley said.

Bradley goes to Tallahassee

The mayor also reported on his recent trip to Tallahassee where he lobbied for funding for city projects.

One of his biggest requests was for a dedicated funding source for SunRail and for quiet zones in the city. Quiet zones are areas where trains are not allowed to sound their horns, which decreases noise pollution in cities that enact them. In order to allow for quiet zones in Winter Park, the city would need to install special large reinforced gates at crossings, which make it impossible for cars to cross while they're down.

"With redistricting coming up, that should be an important item on our agenda," Bradley said.