Town of Miami Lakes hosted a Transportation Summit on July 31, spearheaded by Councilmembers Tony Lama and Nelson Rodriguez, to bring together the relevant stakeholders and expertise of all agencies responsible for transportation to focus intensely on specific problems while ensuring that all agencies’ actions were strategically coordinated to achieve optimal solutions.
“It’s easy for us to deflect blame for the traffic congestion in Miami Lakes,” said Lama. “But as I said at the Traffic Summit, the buck stops with your elected officials.
“It took several months to coordinate the schedules of multiple agencies, but we successfully pulled off an unprecedented workshop to discuss these challenges and potential short and long term solutions. The council will soon convene to discuss these matters and we look forward to receiving input from the community,” Lama added.
Town elected officials and staff were joined by the Florida Department of Transportation, Miami-Dade Transit, Miami-Dade Expressway Authority, Miami-Dade County Public Works, Metropolitan Planning Organization, South Florida Commuter Services, and the town's civil/traffic engineering consultants Kimley-Horn and Associates and Corradino & Associates, to brainstorm and discuss possible ways to relieve the congestion/mobility issues present in the town.
Miami Lakes is home to approximately 30,000 people and 1,500 businesses. Access into the town is primarily from the Palmetto Expressway, I-75 and the Gratigny Expressway. These expressways provide multiple approaches to the town, but also limit the internal mobility within the town, providing only one road that connects the east and west side of the town.
Surveys conducted by the town last year determined that traffic congestion is the most common concern for both resident and businesses. Many complaints were heard about congestion on Miami Lakes Drive/N.W. 154 Street, particularly in the area of the Palmetto Expressway interchange.
Many other complaints suggest that at least some congestion is due to signal timing issues. Further, complaints and field observations suggest that many congestion issues arise around schools during drop-off and dismissal times.
Following the presentations, Summit participants were asked to form two groups, one focused on brainstorming solutions for the westside of Miami Lakes and the other focusing on the eastside of the town.
Town staff is now in the process of evaluating these ideas for potential incorporation into the Town’s Strategic Plan for short, medium, and long-term implementation, and for further discussion and consideration by the Town Council and other relevant agencies.
For more information, and to view the presentations from the Transportation Summit, visit www.mlmoover.com.