Cocoa - Tuesday March 12, 2024: The Mayor of the Brevard County city of Cocoa has announced that Brightline has agreed to start negotiations to build their next train stop in his community.
Mayor Michael Blake called it called it a "transformative project," in a post on the city's Facebook page. He said "Cocoa officials have met with Brightline executives and are ready to move forward with negotiations for a Cocoa Station," adding "we will now begin to coordinate with community stakeholders to present a financial proposal to Brightline."
Brightline spokeswoman Katie Mitzner confirmed the announcement in an emailed statement to WQCS News saying:
"Brightline is ready to begin the formal process with Space Coast stakeholders to fulfill our vision for a Brevard County station. The Space Coast TPO, Brevard County, City of Cocoa and other community leaders have started to bring the region together to identify potential federal, state and local resources for a station to be located in Cocoa. We agree the time is now to finalize a plan."
In his Facebook post, Mayor Blake said the station will be located near State Road #528 and U.S. #1. That is in the northern part of Cocoa in an area called the "Cocoa curve." Last week, the Cocoa City Council unanimously voted to commit $5 million towards the planning and construction of a Brightline station project at that location.
A Cocoa in-line station he said would represent "a significant infrastructure investment and will have great economic impact on our community, with the goal of improving connectivity and accessibility for residents and visitors to the Space Coast."