HAINES CITY, Fla. — Polk County has seen a lot of growth over the last few decades and Haines City is leading the pack.
With over 12,000 people moving to the area since 2023 comes more cars and that's why the city is hoping a new commuter train project will encourage people to ride instead of drive.
Ryan Kordek with the Polk Transportation Planning Organization said traffic on Polk County roads has increased nearly 40 percent in the past decade, making it the fastest-growing county in the region.
“We've grown upwards of a hundred thousand people in Polk County just since 2020,” Kordek said.
Transportation leaders knew they were growing, but they didn’t expect it to happen this quickly. More traffic leads to more congestion, which can cause more crashes. Data showed more than 80,000 crashes between 2017 and 2021 and on average two people died in traffic crashes every week, according to Polk's TPO annual report.
“There's a number of road projects underway in the Central and Northeastern part of the county and Sun rail would be another way to compliment a lot of those road improvements,” Kordek said.
The Florida Department of Transportation is working with the county to extend the SunRail Service adding stops in places like Haines City where ridership is expected to be substantial.
“We're estimating approximately over 280,000 riders per year could use the service,” Scott Pringle, WSP Director of Florida Transit and Rail said.
Former mayor Roy Tyler said he's seen Haines City go from cow pastures to communities dotted with homes.
“I-4, 27, Highway 60, 17-92. That's not local traffic,” Roy Tyler, former Haines City mayor said.
But, if that traffic is going to turn into local traffic it's going to take investment in the area's infrastructure.
“At some point in time one has to choose to invest where to invest your resources,” Haines City said.
The SunRail expansion could cost the state, county, and cities millions of dollars. Tyler estimates it’s a $500 million cost for Haines City, but he said it's an investment in the future.
“Where we are in the explosive process of growth. It's hard press for me to believe that we can't afford not to do it," Tyler said.
This expansion project is still in the early phases, but they'll need to do several transportation studies to qualify for federal grants to help pay for the project.
If the county approves this project, the goal is to have services start in 2035. County leaders said they'll hold more public meetings over the next year as they get ready for the project development and environmental studies.