![]() ![]() Part of the problem is the lack of a coherent vision, says transit advocate Marta Viciedo. But for the most part, urban in-fill and expanding highways reflect conflicting strategies. Diaz pointed to plans to let express buses drive on a soon-to-be widened left shoulder of the 836 to bypass traffic as an example of collaboration with MDT. People aren’t forced to take the expressways and MDX works with their partners, like Miami Dade Transit, to improve the flow of traffic, he said. Diaz would not comment on that idea, or criticism of the number of tolls on the roads they control, instead saying the toll money MDX collects goes to support and maintain the highways. “As long as you’re tolling people to death, at least give us some of that money for public transportation,” Suarez said. Suarez has sharply criticized MDX in the past, referring to the agency’s expanding debt obligations to build interchanges, tolls, and longer highways as a “debacle.” Suarez thinks it would be great if some of the money MDX collected in tolls went to pay for alternatives to the expressways. MDX spokesman Mario Diaz would not comment on whether this would simply encourage more development - and more cars - instead he said these highway extensions on the county’s western fringes are an attempt to meet existing demand. Miami Dade Transit is looking to add more, and larger buses to their fleet.Īt the same time, MDX is extending highways further west along the Urban Development Boundary. Longer term plans for connections between midtown, downtown and Miami Beach are also starting to emerge. Plans for more bike lanes and a pedestrian friendly downtown (PDF) are beginning to take shape. Miami is trying to pave over it’s history of haphazard planning by encouraging more dense development closer to downtown, a strategy referred to by planning experts as “urban in-fill.” While this can create more congestion, it also makes for a more pedestrian friendly city. The cities of Miami and Miami Beach are considering plans to expand their free trolley systems. “You can’t keep promoting urban sprawl.”Īfter years of building a sprawling wonderland of automobiles, it seems more public officials are beginning to take notice. “You just go to some of the planning and zoning meetings and you see all kinds of variances” for developers, County Commissioner Xavier Suarez said. At the same time, some municipalities allow more and more development along already clogged roads, sometimes in ways that conflict with existing planning and zoning regulations. Connecting a county designed for cars with public transit is an unwieldy task. Cars were seen as the transportation mode of the future, and roads were designed for drivers instead of pedestrians and bicyclists. The development focus then was on sprawling subdivisions of single-family homes, building the American Dream. Unlike cities that were built largely before the invention of the automobile, such as New York and Boston, Miami’s growth came mostly in the latter half of the twentieth century. ![]() ![]() Part of the problem is how the city is laid out. Garcia said driving on the 836 reminded him of the opening scene of Office Space, “sitting in traffic, inching along.” Somewhere something’s going to have to give in this system.” “It’s obvious that the roads are at capacity. “We have to refocus our energy on providing more options and less so on trying to solve for congestion,” Garcia added. Tony Garcia, an urban planning consultant who ran the blog, says “the problem is not a lack of roads, it’s a lack of options.” So the question becomes how to move people along those corridors. Transit advocates have begged the city and the county for years to figure out how to move away from a transportation system that caters to cars. Studies show that building more and bigger roads just results in more traffic. Widening US-1 and most other major roads is not really an option. The same Texas A&M study showed that all this traffic in Miami results in almost 1.9 billion pounds of carbon dioxide emitted when the highways are congested. Gridlock takes a toll on the environment, too. What does this congestion cost commuters? A national study from Texas A&M University in 2012 showed Miami drivers can expect to lose an extra 47 hours on the road per year, and almost a thousand dollars in extra costs. ![]()
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