A new model demonstrating Brightline’s proposed route has caused significant concern among residents of Hunter’s Creek. The model, recently unveiled at the Hunter’s Creek Town Hall, shows how Brightline’s proposed high-speed rail route would slice through the neighborhood as well as other residential areas and several sensitive wetlands located along State Road (SR) 417.

The model also illustrates the obtrusiveness of the walls – some more than fifty feet high – that would be required for the trains to run atop of — only feet away from some residents’ houses. With the trains running in such close proximity to the houses, residents voiced concerns about the noise and safety issues that would accompany it, as well as the obvious losses to property value the rail’s presence would inevitably bring. These losses could total hundreds of millions of dollars.

“We’re getting all of the negative effects and none of the positive,” said Hunter’s Creek resident Joe Overberger, who is in favor of the previously approved SR 528 route we are advocating for. This route, which would include a stop at the Orange County Convention Center, would expand SunRail’s reach and serve more of Central Florida’s neighborhoods and residents. It would also have less impact on property values and the environment, as it largely travels through an industrial corridor. “It’s just a common sense, business sense no-brainer,” Overberger continued.