Following Miami-Dade County Commission’s decision to request an FDOT study over opening up a bridge near Hialeah and possibly doing the same for N.W. 154 Street, Miami Lakes residents voiced concerns over the additional traffic the projects would bring to their neighborhoods.
At issue is whether opening up the N.W. 170 Street bridge over I-75 would make it more difficult for residents to reach their destinations, especially during peak hours, with additional vehicles on the town’s roadways.
Most residents say they are stuck in traffic for about 47 minutes and an 1-75 overpass at 170 Street would make it impossible for them to get in and out of the areas.
“We’re not trying to keep people out but we are trying to let people in here move around,” said Hilda Hernandez at last week’s Town Council meeting. “We are tired commuters, tired of waiting 20 minutes to get to the Palmetto Expressway from N.W. 82 Avenue.”
Council members approved legislation to address resident’s concerns including calling a Town Hall meeting to collect feedback, and for town officials to work with the county and Hialeah to ensure Miami Lakes doesn’t bare the brunt of the traffic gridlock.
Miami-Dade County Commission Chairman Esteban Bovo Jr., sponsored legislation that calls for a study to open up 170 Street to alleviate traffic congestion for new commercial and residential developments on land west of 1-75 in Hialeah.
To mitigate Miami Lakes’ concerns, Bovo added several amendments to his proposal that included for him to file legislation to halt the project if FDOT’s study results in a negative impact, no trucks would be allowed on the bridge, and east bound traffic must turn left or right onto N.W. 87 Avenue instead of cutting through Miami Lakes and PSN.
He said opening up the roadway was not part of a solution for the massive traffic gridlock expected to be generated by the Mega Mall, which will be built outside of Miami Lakes near 1-75.
“We have to deal with reality,” Bovo said at County Commission meeting.
But the possibility of opening up Miami Lakes Drive over I-75 in the future exasperates residents even more.
Miami Lakes and Hialeah crafted an interlocal agreement in 2007 to keep Miami Lakes Drive closed for the time being.
The town’s first mayor, Wayne Slaton, said the agreement was made after Hialeah annexed a huge section of land west of 1-75 to ensure both cities worked together to minimize traffic coming through the town.
Hialeah annexed the land in 2003, but it took four years to finalize the interlocal agreement which included approval by both cities and the county’s Department of Community Affairs.
“It was the right thing to do then, and it’s still the right to do,” Slaton said at the Town Council meeting. “Everyone has to be on the same page to rescind it and I don’t see that happening.”
Mayor Manny Cid said FDOT conducted a study to determine the impact of opening up Miami Lakes Drive and the state agency concluded that project wouldn’t do much good.
“N.W. 154 Street goes west only to N.W. 97 Avenue and it’s loaded with traffic there already,” he said.
But Hialeah may not be pushing to open up N.W. 154 Street, according to Councilmember Nelson Rodriguez.
He said Hialeah officials were surprised when they learned County Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz proposed a future project at Miami Lakes Drive.
“Hialeah was caught off guard,” he said. “City officials looked at each other then looked at me and said ‘what is he talking about?’”
Vice Mayor Tony Lama said he’s upset because Miami Lakes was kept in the dark about the proposed projects before the County Commission approved the study for N.W. 170 Street.
“No one called Miami Lakes to inform us about them,” Lama said. “I haven’t gotten a phone call and I’m still waiting for one. I’m not the president of Miami Lakes but I represent the people of Miami Lakes who want to be heard.”
Resident Claudia Luces said the developers for the land in Hialeah should be responsible for providing infrastructure to alleviate traffic since four new development projects are going there.
“They should provide an exit to I-75,” she said. “Don’t put the burden on our town.”
In other Town Council actions:
• Lawmakers gave their final approval for an ordinance to place a six-month moratorium on establishing marijuana dispensing organizations and medical marijuana treatment centers within the town, in order to consider and weigh changes to the town’s land development Code needed to suitably register and accommodate these centers within town boundaries.
• Council members gave their final approval for an ordinance to place a six-month moratorium on the approval of permits to install telecommunication towers and equipment in the town’s public rights-of-way.
The abeyance gives town officials a chance to weigh the changes to the land development code needed to suitably accommodate the structures within the town’s boundaries, while complying with new state and federal laws allowing cellphone towers.
• Council members gave their initial approval for an ordinance to adopt its own franchise agreement with FPL for 30 years.
FPL’s 30-year agreement with the county expires in 2020 and any Miami-Dade city that incorporated after 1990 can enter into their own agreement with the light and power giant.
The town is estimated to receive more than $2 million per year during the duration of the agreement.
• Lawmakers gave their initial approval for an ordinance which would allow certain homeowners with outstanding liens to settle their code enforcement cases for less than the original fines.
The ordinance would provide for a process to reduce certain outstanding liens for properties that would have been otherwise eligible to apply for the Lien Amnesty program.
In lieu of re-opening the program, council members directed town staff to draft an ordinance allowing lien holders who failed to take advantage of the program, to go to the hearing officer for reevaluation where extraordinary circumstances did occur, but in no event would the maximum reduction exceed 70 percent of the current lien amount.
• Council members gave their initial approval for an ordinance to amend the town’s procurement procedure that would make it easier for more businesses to qualify for local preference.
• Council members approved a resolution to authorize the town manager to execute a work order under an existing contact for miscellaneous engineering services in the amount of $148,000 to Marlin Engineering, the consulting firm that worked on the conceptual design feasibility study for the N.W. 67 Avenue Widening Project.
• Lawmakers approved a resolution to waive the competitive bidding process and purchase and install Closed Circuit Television Cameras and adaptive signal control technology on the N.W. 154 Street Corridor to monitor traffic between N.W. 87 Avenue and 77 Court.
As part of the Town’s Strategic Plan, based on feedback from a Transportation Summit, the new adaptive signal control technologies will help address traffic in Miami Lakes. Impact and mobility fees from developments would fund the new traffic signal program.
• Lawmakers approved Rodriguez’s proposal to modify the town’s land development code requirement for public notice mailers from 500 feet to 1,000 feet.
Town staff would recommend specific requirements under which this increased mailer notification radius would be required.