Fort Lauderdale Airport station
Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox station Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport at Dania Beach station, or more commonly Fort Lauderdale Airport station, is a Tri-Rail commuter rail station in Dania Beach, Florida, located just west of Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport. The station is located at Gulfstream Way, adjacent to the interchange of I-95 and Griffin Road (SR 818). The station has two side platforms. A parking garage is located west of the southbound platform, while a small parking lot is east of the northbound platform. A pedestrian grade crossing connects between the two platforms at the north end of the station.
History
The Tri-Rail system was originally built with a Fort Lauderdale Airport station on Ravenswood Boulevard (Anglers Avenue) at SW 36th Street (Collins Road) at a cost of $806,000.<ref name=noon /><ref name=woes>Template:Cite news</ref> It was directly across I-95 from the airport's main runway. On January 3, 1989 – six days before the system opened on January 9 – Broward County aviation officials objected to the station being opened because it was located in the clear zone around the runway.<ref name=woes /> (The Federal Aviation Administration did not object, as that agency's authority extended only to regulating the height of structures near airports.<ref name=rages>Template:Cite news</ref>) County commissioners then voted not to operate connecting bus service to the station and Tri-Rail postponed opening of the station.<ref name=rages /> Due to internal miscommunication, some trains served the station on January 8.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Florida Department of Transportation and Broward County officials clashed over which agency was responsible for the station being built in the clear zone.<ref name=woes /> Tri-Rail opened the station on March 10, 1989, promoting the county to vote on March 14 to withdraw support – which would have forced Tri-Rail to stop running – unless the station was closed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=bow>Template:Cite news</ref> Local commentators called it a political maneuver, noting that frequently-congested I-95 was even closer to the runway than the station.<ref name=bow /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Tri-Rail board voted on March 17 to close the station on March 23.<ref name=noon>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=kaplan>Template:Cite news</ref> It temporarily reopened in May 1989 when the runway was closed for resurfacing.<ref name=kaplan /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A replacement station opened at Tigertail Boulevard, about Template:Convert to the south, on July 17, 1989, at a cost of $268,000.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=nextstop />
In 1996, the town of Dania Beach and Broward County swapped land to allow the county to build an access road to a new station site and the International Game Fish Association Hall of Fame and Museum.<ref name=nextstop /> The new station, located about Template:Convert north of the Tigertail Road station site, opened on August 14, 2000.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It was formally dedicated four days later.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> More elaborate than the earlier stations, the $3.3 million facility included octagonal pavilions, larger canopies, and a 200-space parking lot.<ref name=nextstop>Template:Cite news</ref> Tri-Rail opened a 400-space parking garage at the station – the first parking garage on the system – in October 2010 to ease a parking shortage.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>