An expensive, unnecessary planned project: widening from two to four lanes with raised median the road segment of SW 157th Ave. from SW 152nd St. to SW 184th St.;
Summary. This lane-doubling project at this time is an ill-advised use of a further $11 million of CITT funds. Benefits claimed for this project, like the provision of north-south connectivity, are already available now, with no investment at all. Traffic moves without congestion the whole day, including during morning and afternoon rush hours, as can be verified by site visits. This project is in the 5-year plan presented for CITT approval today. The CITT should amend the plan to remove this project.
The Public Works Department [PWD] plans to conclude contracts this year for utility relocation and for construction. The CITT memo accompanying the 5-year plan recommends for this project, “that traffic studies be updated prior to immediate commencement of construction.” This is not a promising step. It sounds like the decision is already made and the traffic study is window dressing for starting as soon as possible. In reality, the 2006 traffic study specifically indicated comfortable traffic levels far below capacity, but that did not deter Public Works, the County Administration, and Commissioner Moss from advocating this expensive road expansion. None of the official presentations of this project to the CITT communicated that the whole west side of this road segment is agricultural land outside the Urban Development Boundary [UDB]. This bordering on the UDB makes this segment different from the already improved segments of SW 157th Ave. to the north, which pass through populated areas on both sides of the road. By omitting this information on the UDB, the presentations withhold information needed for an intelligent decision by the CITT.
It defies common sense to change now to a super road whose usefulness will depend on moving the UDB further west, a development which this project clearly advances. Miami-Dade, and especially the far southwest of the county, do not need more unfinished and unsold housing. If, sometime in the future, the UDB in this area is moved and intensive outlying development is planned, then the County already owns the land for the widening to four lanes. Also, the County could then negotiate with developers for their contribution to the cost of doubling the lanes.
Traffic counts, valid benefit/cost analysis using a social discount rate, common sense, and site visits all support not going ahead with this project at this time. Here is a further word on site visits.
In 2003, the first year of the CITT, member Lt. Col. Antonio Colmenares visited proposed project sites. In District 13, he found a road widening proposal that seemed unneeded. Commissioner Natacha Sejas, who had included the project in the People’s Transportation Plan [PTP], agreed it was a mistake. She proposed amending the PTP to remove the project, an action which was approved by the CITT at one of its first meetings.
Current CITT members and staff would benefit from visiting this project site on SW 157th Ave. So far, no one has taken up my offer to drive anyone there at the peak morning or afternoon rush hours. Perhaps members and staff have visited there on their own and will reflect their experiences in tonight’s discussion of the 5-year plan. Or just check with me after this meeting.
On April 5, I drove to the SW 157th Ave. site. At 5:31. p.m. I drove the northbound 2.3 miles (with two stop signs) in 3.25 minutes. I then drove the same southbound segment at 5:36 p.m. in 3.37 minutes. Rush-hour traffic was moving faster than the 40 mph speed limit.
As the proposed 5-year plan indicates, many key PTP promises to the public are now cancelled or delayed for decades because of the federal and local financial crises. So now the CITT and County staff must exercise discernment in setting priorities and in the selection and timing of PTP projects, including those suggested by Commissioners. Commissioner Dennis Moss and his staff originally wanted to widen SW 147th Ave. instead, but the affected residents objected. In the rush to define projects for the PTP, the widening was transferred to this southern portion of SW 157th Ave., but this was not at all an original priority. The CITT could amend the 5-year plan to remove this low priority project before it is even put out for construction bids.
Newer CITT members should know that in May, 2006, the CITT on a 5-3 vote first rejected the contract for the engineering study for this project. A month later, after a questionable procedure, the CITT reversed itself and approved the project on a 6-3 vote. I believe the consternation in the County Government caused by the initial rejection was not because this 157th Ave. project was crucial, but because the County Government was shocked that the CITT would reject a contract.
6 comments:
None of this will matter once state authority for growth management is destroyed. If anyone thinks we will have a chance with the CITT or county commission, you need your head examined.
I hate the fact that the state will have less authority to manage growth. However, with all due respect, the exact opposite may be true: road widening (or refusal to widen roads) will matter much more now that the state is losing its power. Why? One of the only limits on suburban sprawl will be roads and congestion. If we refuse to subsidize the sprawl building machine through asphalt and concurrency (which is a euphemism for subsidizing infrastructure needed to build sprawl)we could perhaps slow down the expansion of sprawl westward. Builders simply cannot sell tract housing on the roads that characterize much of the western portions of Miami-Dade. They need the roads to be upgraded, widened, gold-plated, in order to sell their worthless gated subdivisions. They need public dollars to do so. We need to stop funding such road widening. We need to be contracting/shrinking the size of our developed metropolitan area, not expanding it.
But I may be naive and you may be completely correct.
They are right now building one (1) block or road - from 10th Lane to 12th Terrace.
Come over and look for the man with the big straw hat pushing dirt back and forth for months and the idle machines by him.
Somebody must be laughing a lot on his way to the bank.
It's no secret that Commissioner Moss and Commissioner Martinez is behind the punching through of SW 157 Ave. How do you think $10,000.000. was allocated to improve SW 157 Ave. to the north. And Commissioner Moss has stated the western UDB boundary should be Krome Avenue.
What I cannot figure out is, SW 137 Avenue has been approved to be 4-lane for years. By doing so SW 137 Avenue would extend south from Quail Roost Drive/SW 137 Avenue all the way down to Homestead Motor Sport Speedway. Why to leap frog outside the UDB?
One last road zing..In the late 90's a residential development was approved on the NE corner of Eureka Drive and SW 147 Avenue. Promised was services, schools and road widening (4-land) to handle the additional impact on roads. It is now 2011 and the promise is finally be kept..
Redland will be gone!
To crystalize the message: farm land on the left, houses on the right. Why widen the road? For the tractors? For the homeowners? No, for the developers.
Protest the CITT and the proposed misuse of of your tax dollars. This is just the beginning of the costs that will hit your wallet.
Build the road, get people back to work. This is the time to build the project when construction is cheap.
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