Volusia council member wants change to SunRail plan

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Sunrail, central Florida's commuter train, is well underway to becoming a reality. Routes are planned and stations are being built.

The first phase, set to open in May of 2014, will connect Sand Lake Road in Orlando to DeBary.

But it's the second phase that Volusia County council chairman Jason Davis said is still up for debate.

"I was doing some research on SunRail and very simply found out, we don't have a plan," said Davis.

Davis spent time recently speaking with federal transportation officials and local mayors. He said he believes the proposed route to go from DeBary to the DeLand Amtrak station in Phase 2 is not ideal.

"Instead of going from DeBary to DeLand, we might be able to go from DeBary in another direction," said Davis.

Davis said he would like to see SunRail ended up in Daytona Beach, the county's hot spot for high profile events.

One possibility he said would run to Interstate 4 and State Road 472 near Deltona and Orange City. It would then follow I-4 into Daytona to the airport.

He said this would hit more populated parts of the county.

State transportation officials don't think that will happen. Tracks are already in place to DeLand. And they said, whether or not Davis' plan goes through, it already has plans to study options for getting people to Daytona Beach.

WFTV