Like any big city, Fort Lauderdale has its problems, from traffic gridlock to sewage spills to runaway spending on certain city events.
But Mayor Dean Trantalis highlighted the positives and shared how the city is tackling the negatives in his State of the City speech Wednesday night at The Parker in downtown.
“Fort Lauderdale is the city you never want to leave,” Trantalis said of the tourist town that’s home to nearly 200,000 people and draws millions of visitors every year.
His one-hour speech was amplified by seven expertly done videos showcasing the beauty and diversity of Fort Lauderdale: The sand, the sea, the skyline.
“Yes, this is your city, folks,” Trantalis said with the enthusiasm of a rock star. “We are on the map, people. We are FTL.”
It was his second State of the City speech since becoming mayor in 2018. (The pandemic did away with speeches in 2020 and 2021, forcing him to get his message out via newsletters.)
Here are some of the hot topics he focused on — and some reactions from locals.
Traffic and those Elon Musk tunnels
Maybe Elon Musk’s plan to take traffic underground isn’t so crazy after all.
Fort Lauderdale is in discussions with Musk’s Boring Co. to build a tunnel loop from downtown to the beach.
“Fort Lauderdale is working with Musk to explore the financial, technical and geological components of creating what we term the Las Olas Loop,” Trantalis said. “It would be a 2.7-mile underground transportation loop that whisks passengers from downtown to the beach in under five minutes. It’s a good place to start.”
Traffic between downtown and the beach can overwhelm key roads, including Las Olas and Sunrise Boulevards and Southeast 17th Street.
“During the winter and spring and during major events like the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, these roadways turn into veritable parking lots,” Trantalis said. “And once you get to the beach, parking rates can be very expensive — sometimes $100 or more.”
Unlike a regular subway, The Boring Co.’s tunnels transport passengers in electric vehicles — at first staffed with drivers and perhaps one day controlled by automation.
“In this respect, the Loop would resemble an underground highway,” the mayor said.
People would be shuttled directly to their final destination without stopping. The route would be illuminated by LED lights, with cars reaching speeds of 50 mph.
“Travel time would be reduced to minutes,” he said. “The price would equate to a nice cup of coffee at Starbucks.”
A better way to get around
High-speed trains may be one way to get people out of their cars, experts say.
Fort Lauderdale is working closely with regional partners to create commuter rail service between Miami and West Palm Beach, the mayor said. The Coastal Link would have stops in downtowns across South Florida and would ease congestion on roads and highways, including Interstate 95.
“This could be a real game-changer for the region,” Trantalis said. “It is a complicated project, and a key issue is how the service will cross the New River and downtown thoroughfares. We cannot allow increased train traffic to harm our marine industry or downtown’s renaissance. The county and state want to build a high-rise bridge. I won’t let that happen.”
A bridge rising 80 feet high running 2.8 miles between Davie and Sunrise boulevards would ruin downtown, the mayor argues.
“It would be a blight to downtown and reverse the success of our transformation over the past decade,” he said. “It would divide the historic Northwest community from downtown when we are focused on reconnecting communities. Also harmed would be the city’s historic district and picturesque Riverwalk. They would be hidden underneath the train bridge and its massive support columns.”
A train tunnel makes the most sense, Trantalis said.
“Houston, Austin, Louisville, Milwaukee, Dallas and Seattle are all using tunnels creatively to bury transportation systems and make their cities more open, livable and sustainable,” he said. “Imagine what would have happened in Fort Lauderdale if city leaders made a different decision about Federal Highway and the New River in the late 1950s. What if they had built a bridge rather than the Kinney Tunnel? Las Olas would not be the chic, fashionable street it is, nor would the Riverwalk be the same — all because there would be a large bridge servicing Federal Highway in their midst rather than a tunnel beneath them.”
Movie studio on the way
Tourism and the marine industry have long been the cornerstones of the city’s economy, but Fort Lauderdale is also attracting new fields of business, Trantalis said.
“One new area we’ve been pursuing is the movie industry,” he said. “We are completing an agreement with an L.A.-based consortium to build a movie studio on the long-vacant site of the former Wingate incinerator. The city cleaned up the parcel two decades ago, only to see no interest in its redevelopment since.”
At no cost to the city, the group plans to invest $150 million and build a full-service production studio complete with sound stages, movie sets and a backlot for location filming.
“Yes, folks, Hollywood has come to Fort Lauderdale,” Trantalis said.
Controversy over concert
On Aug. 19, Fort Lauderdale spent $500,000 on a Summer Jamz concert at Mills Pond Park without commission approval. Critics have blasted the city for what’s being called runaway spending. And now the interim city auditor has been tasked with the job of uncovering how it happened and who is to blame.
“Allow me to pause for a second and discuss a recent controversy surrounding city amenities — the outrageous amount of money spent on Summer Jamz,” Trantalis said. “What we have learned in the last week shows the need for greater scrutiny of city-sponsored events — both by the commission and staff.”
City officials are determined to get to the bottom of what occurred and come up with a list of reforms to make sure it never happens again, he added.
“We will get past this,” Trantalis promised. “Let us learn from our mistakes and move forward.”
Keeping sewage where it belongs
A record-breaking sewage spill dominated the headlines in late 2019 and early 2020, when a vintage 54-inch sewer main that runs 7.5 miles underground across the city suffered a series of breaks, sending sewage out onto streets and yards in neighborhoods from Rio Vista to Coral Ridge. The aging cast-iron pipe, funneling sewage since 1973, was at the end of its expected life span.
“The most significant challenge we have faced has been upgrading an aging infrastructure,” Trantalis said. “Many American cities are in the same position as Fort Lauderdale was. Prior generations simply did not put enough effort into maintaining vital water, sewer and stormwater systems. Yet, when our community suffered an unfortunate series of pipe breaks, we confronted the issue head-on with determination and grit.”
The city has turned the corner, making upgrades that will last well into the future, Trantalis told his audience.
“This work has included a truly remarkable feat of construction,” he said. “Using two contractors and cutting-edge technology, Fort Lauderdale installed a new 54-inch sewer pipe that runs 7.5 miles through the core of the city. The work was finished in record time and under budget and is now receiving numerous industry accolades.”
In the past five years, Fort Lauderdale has replaced more than 24 miles of water distribution pipes and 16 miles of wastewater force mains, targeting the city’s high-risk areas.
Anyone thirsty?
For years, city officials have been warning about the urgent need to replace Fiveash, Fort Lauderdale’s aging water treatment plant described once by the mayor as held together by spit and chewing gum. Plans are underway to hire a private company to build a new water plant at an estimated cost of $514 million.
The new plant will be built to survive a hurricane and will get rid of Fort Lauderdale’s yellow-tinged drinking water once and for all.
“The Fiveash Water Treatment Plant is beyond its useful life,” the mayor said from onstage. “We need to move quickly to replace it.”
The city is finalizing a contract with world-renowned water system experts to build and operate the plant. A commission vote is expected on Oct. 18.
The new water plant should come online in early 2026.
What people are saying
Here’s what a few people who attended the event had to say.
Ralph Zeltman, a retired engineer who serves on the city’s infrastructure task force, said the mayor “did what any good politician does” and painted a rosy picture of the city’s successes and drew attention away from the failures by saying they were a learning experience and will be avoided in the future.
“He was trying to keep it positive,” said Mary Peloquin, a longtime resident and president of the Council of Fort Lauderdale Civic Associations. “It never hurts to be positive. You can’t help but be proud of this place we live in. It’s not perfect. But where is it perfect?”
Paula Yukna, a community activist with a condo at the beach, had high praise for the mayor and the event.
“I thought it was well done,” she said. “If you didn’t know what was going on, you’d think this is the best place in the world. I still don’t know about the tunnel. It costs an awful lot of money. Development, development, development. It’s got to end somewhere. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens to our city when we have three new commissioners.”
Those three commissioners will be elected on Nov. 8.
Vice Mayor Ben Sorensen and Commissioners Heather Moraitis and Robert McKinzie are leaving office in November, setting the stage for a busy election season.
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com or on Twitter @Susannah_Bryan
