The culture in our town is no longer built around focusing on the next week, or month, or election cycle. We’re focusing on future generations. It’s a big-picture approach, and part of that change is adjusting the way we think about our town’s mobility. How do our residents go to work, drop off kids at school, pick up groceries, and do everyday activities without getting stuck in traffic?
We cannot ignore these questions anymore, nor can the answers be the status quo. We need a simple and common-sense approach. What we’ve done for the past 30 years in Miami-Dade County doesn’t work. Stand at any intersection in Miami-Dade during rush-hour traffic and you will be immediately convinced that we are failing.
Miami Lakes is trying to find solutions.
We’ve reformed the process by which new developments impacting traffic get put into effect. Previously, developers would submit traffic studies and negotiate development agreements that never mitigated the traffic impact – hence, why we have gridlock today.
Now, developers pay into a mobility fund that is exclusively utilized for transportation improvements throughout town. The list of mobility initiatives selected for funding wee pinpointed via a transportation summit where all pertinent agencies, stakeholders, and the public attended.
We’re not done. But we’re trying. And we’re getting there – so you can get home faster.
I applaud my colleagues for challenging the traffic congestion status quo of the past, and looking for innovative ways to combat traffic congestion in our community.
Manny Cid
Mayor, Town of Miami Lakes