Lawmakers challenge Palmetto Expressway tolls

The express lanes and tolls on the Palmetto Expressway have been controversial ever since the Florida Department of Transportation installed them in September.
While some drivers complained about paying to drive on the expressway or slowed traffic along the Miami Lakes and Hialeah sections, others embraced the change and found using the express lanes significantly shortened their commuting times.
On Dec. 2, state Sen.
Manny Diaz, Jr., R-Palm Springs North, and
Rep. Bryan Avila, R-Miami Springs, filed bills to open the express lanes to all drivers and halt the tolls.
If the legislation passes, it will take effect on July 1, 2020, the officials said.
Diaz said he feels strongly that people in his district are being robbed of their quality of life.
“The express lanes themselves are working, but Miami Lakes and Hialeah residents don’t have access, which is creating more congestion since they don’t have the option to take the express lanes,” said Diaz.
There is access to the express lanes in Miami Lakes. Southbound drivers get into the lanes after entering the Palmetto at Northwest 67th Avenue. Nortbound drivers can leave the express lanes after passing the Northwest 154th Street exit.
Though Diaz told
The Miami Laker that he uses the express lanes and “loves them,“ by filing a bill to eradicate them he is “listening to my district and their concerns.”
Diaz suggested a compromise.
“Maybe by reducing the express lanes to just one, and providing more access points [there is] a middle ground,” Diaz said.
Avila also called the express lanes a burden.
“Our residents need and deserve transportation solutions, not additional impediments,” Avila said in a media statement.
Miami-Dade Police Lt. Jose Gonzalez oversees traffic in Miami Lakes and in September, said he noted significant improvement in traffic flow on Northwest 154th Street after the express lanes were installed.
“There is no more backup to get onto the Palmetto,” Gonzalez said then.
Miami Lakes council members are considering a resolution to support the bills filed by Diaz and Avila.
Vice Mayor Nelson
Rodriguez said during a Dec. 10 council meeting that like Diaz, he uses the express lanes and “has no problem with them,” but that southbound traffic on the expressway “is backed up for miles.”
Mayor Manny Cid said during the meeting that the town’s proposed resolution may ask for a solution to gridlock that is anticipated along Miami Lakes Drive if the toll lanes are removed.
If the proposed legislation becomes law, the state will be forced to open the express lanes, the elected officials said.
A spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Transportation did not respond to questions about the challenge to the multi-million dollar road project.