The century-old railroad bridge that every Brightline train passes over on its way to and from Aventura Station is getting replaced, now that a $78.9 million federal grant has completed funding for the $262 million project.

The U.S. Department of Transportation announced the grant Monday, Aug. 17, awarding it to the City of Stuart for the St. Lucie River Railroad Bridge, Brightline said in a press release. The money joins a $130 million USDOT commitment from 2023, making the full replacement financially possible.

The existing bridge is a drawbridge that must lower for each train crossing, blocking nearly all boat traffic on the Okeechobee Waterway beneath it. With just 6.5 feet of vertical clearance and 50 feet of horizontal clearance in the closed position, the span has frustrated boaters, rail officials, local governments and the U.S. Coast Guard for years, the Sun Sentinel reported.

For Aventura-area riders, the bridge is a chokepoint on the single-track corridor connecting Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach and Orlando. Brightline currently runs 16 daily round trips between Central and South Florida, with hourly departures in each direction, all crossing the St. Lucie River span.

The replacement will be a new double-track structure. Horizontal clearance will nearly double, from 50 feet to roughly 90 feet. Vertical clearance will nearly triple, from 6.5 feet to about 17.75 feet in the closed position. That wider, taller opening would let more than 90 percent of vessels pass without the bridge needing to open at all, compared to almost none today.

"Anyone who's spent time on the St. Lucie River knows that century-old bridge is too low, sitting at 6 feet, too narrow, and stuck in the closed position more often than it should be," U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, whose district includes Stuart, said in the announcement. "It's a daily headache for boaters and a safety risk for everyone who shares that corridor."

Patrick Goddard, CEO of Brightline Trains Florida, called the grant "a win for everyone who shares this corridor," adding that the marine industry, municipalities and rail partners all benefit from modernized infrastructure.

The project is part of what the Trump administration calls the "Golden Age of Rail," a $5.3 billion national investment in rail safety upgrades. Florida's share of that broader program is $496 million.

No construction timeline has been set. Neither the USDOT announcement nor Brightline's statement included a groundbreaking date, design milestone or completion target. No public comment period on the project has been announced; residents can monitor updates through Brightline's website or raise the topic at upcoming Aventura City Commission meetings.