Gov. Bush on Hot Seat as Transportation Agency Pushes $1.2-Bil Rail Plan Opposed by Disney

ORLANDO-First, the ballot chads. Now, the railroad line. Gov. Jeb Bush Friday will receive a recommendation from the Florida Department of Transportation urging the governor and the Cabinet to back a $1.2-billion cross-state rapid rail system whose route is vigorously challenged by Walt Disney World Co.

The project would open up thousands of acres to new commercial development from Orlando to Tampa, FL, a 90-mile westward frontier, and from Orlando-Tampa to Lakeland, FL, a 60-mile southward jaunt. But that scenario is not the issue here.

At stake is future tourist market share–a lucrative market dominated by Disney for 30 years in Central Florida. Disney adamantly opposes the direction of the planned rapid rail project that would link the area’s largest attractions with a single line. That line would run from Orlando International Airport, run west to the four million-sf Orange County Convention Center; turn south along Interstate 4 on its way to Disney’s 30,000-acre enclave; then continue south and west to the Lakeland-Tampa hub.