Transportation & Infrastructure
Darren will continue his longtime advocacy for greater infrastructure investment in our District.
First and foremost, he is engaging in critical oversight to help keep the I-4 Ultimate improvements on budget and on time, with an expected completion date of 2022. An expansion of Central Florida's main highway is long overdue and is critical to our future growth.
Second, he is closely monitoring SunRail Phase 2 which is set to open in early 2018 and will serve Meadow Woods, Buenaventura Lakes, Downtown Kissimmee and Poinciana. He is pushing for funding for SunRail Phase 3 to connect SunRail to Orlando International Airport.
Our vision is clear: with these projects, Central Floridians will finally have both rail and car options for their daily commute, and we will alleviate congestion on I-4!
Third, Darren will pursue a new control tower for the Kissimmee airport and a runway extension at Lake Wales along with local officials to continue to foster growth in these communities.
Fourth, Darren is fighting to fully fund and provide regulatory support to the multimodal center at Orlando International Airport which will serve as an international terminal, SunRail Station and Brightline Station.
Under this vision, one day soon, Central Floridians will be able to hop on at any SunRail Station, and take a plane for Orlando International anywhere or high speed train to West Palm Beach, Ft Lauderdale, or Miami.
Fifth, Darren will continue to work with local and state leaders to bring new transportation options to Polk County, including the Central Polk Parkway or other alternatives. We must have additional transportation options beyond US 27 and US 17-92 to keep our community moving forward!
Finally, Darren supports the further development of Florida's ports in neighboring coastal areas to increase our export capacity for agricultural and manufactured products.
Selected bills on transportation and infrastructure co-sponsored by Congressman Soto:
H.R.233 - Safe Freight Act of 2017 - this bill prohibits the operation of a freight train or light locomotive engine used in the movement of freight unless it has a crew of at least two individuals, one of whom is certified by the Federal Rail Administration as a locomotive operator and the other as a train conductor.
More on Transportation & Infrastructure
WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, Congressman Darren Soto voted to pass H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act, House Democrats’ sweeping legislation to invest more than $1.5 trillion in modern, sustainable infrastructure while creating millions of good-paying jobs, combatting the climate crisis and addressing disparities in communities across Central Florida and throughout the country.
Today, Rep. Darren Soto (FL-09) led the Florida Congressional Delegation in sending a letter that requests the Florida Public Service Commission work with the Florida Department of Health and Florida Division of Emergency Management to temporarily suspend disconnections of all water, sewer, electricity and gas services in the State of Florida for 60 days during the national emergency of the coronavirus pandemic.
"From 535 all the way down to 27 in Polk County, where a lot of the tractor trailers get off of I-4 where the tourism traffic kind of starts to subside, and it goes all the way up through Volusia County,” said U.S. Rep. Darren Soto.
That's the span of I-4 Beyond the Ultimate -- an extension of I-4 Ultimate.
Monday morning, Soto hosted House Transportation Committee Chair Peter DeFazio in Orange County for a roundtable on the construction project.
The overwhelmed stretch of Interstate 4 through the Orlando region is “a poster child for what’s wrong” with the nation’s highways, the chair of the U.S. House transportation committee told Central Florida officials at a meeting Monday.
Today, Rep. Darren Soto (FL-09) voted to pass bipartisan legislation to ensure that Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screening workforce employees – or Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) – are afforded the same worker rights and protections afforded to other Federal workers under Title 5 of the U.S. Code. H.R.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Darren Soto (FL-09) celebrated the more than 400 bills, including more than 275 bipartisan bills still awaiting action in the GOP-controlled Senate, passed by the Democratic House Majority over the past year.
ORLANDO, FL – Today, Reps. Darren Soto (FL-09) and Val Demings (FL-10), with the support of Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded Orange County $20 million in funding for a local alternative mobility network. Federal funding for the project comes after Congressman Soto wrote a letter to Secretary Elaine Chao expressing strong support of the innovative center.
On Aug. 5, U.S. Rep. Darren Soto (D-Winter Haven) met with a group of east Polk County mayors and commissioners to request local resolutions in support of his federal efforts to extend the SunRail commuter train line from Poinciana, where it currently ends, into Haines City, Lake Alfred, Auburndale and Lakeland in the coming years.