My husband and I are getting a divorce. Our only shared asset is our home, which isn’t fully paid off yet. We both want the house. My husband has his own lawyer, and he is offering to share his lawyer with me while we work through this divorce. I met with the lawyer, and he says that he will represent both of us equally so that we both get what we want.
This is not a real scenario. But I’m sure some of you read this and thought: “how is the same lawyer going to represent both of you equally and make sure you both get what you want, when you want the same thing?” That is the danger of this avenue.
This avenue is a hybrid of a street and a boulevard, according to Miami Dade County’s Typical Section Guidelines. A street prioritizes pedestrian access/safety, while a boulevard prioritizes car throughput. An avenue promises equal access to everyone, but screws both over.
You’ve probably seen examples of avenues. They’re typically along commercial properties. When they are seen near residential areas, the homes and communities are hidden from view by a buffer. Sometimes this buffer is a wall protecting a gated community, sometimes it is dense vegetation or trees.
The County is changing 159th St, a residential collector street, into an avenue.
But in the case of 159th St, there will be no commercial properties or any high density uses to connect. There will be no buffer for residents. Not even a *connection* to any high density use. Just a $20 million dollar project to nowhere. (Construction estimates in 2018 were $14 million. This cost has been adjusted moderately for to account for an annual 6% inflation over 7 years. This does not take into account the ballooning construction costs.)
The homes along 159th will meet the avenue directly, no buffer or safety zone. If a kid or dog happens to run into the street to grab a ball? Or you need to get out of the driveway to head to work? Good luck.
Even if you don’t live on 159th St, if you live on the residential lots that the street is meant to connect, the time just to get out of your neighborhood will dramatically increase. Your commute to work will skyrocket.
And if you’re a driver that doesn’t live in this neighborhood at all, but maybe enjoys taking your dog to the local park or has family in the area? Residents who would typically walk to the park or grocery store are now driving. People who didn’t take 159th St are now trying to use it as an alternate route. That translates to more cars and more traffic. Parking problems. You don’t win, either.
Property values go down, which translates to less resources for City schools and services. If your kid goes to a school in NMB, good luck. The neighborhood inevitably deteriorates. The City that this road is cutting through? They also lose.
Eventually, the County will put another $20-40 million dollars into expanding the lanes AGAIN. But they’ll be out of ROW space next time. So what will be next? County may seize property via eminent domain because this resident collector street will be classified as an “avenue” by then, and the avenue must be expanded to a boulevard to accommodate traffic in 10 years. Besides, the neighborhood is blighted anyway. THIS will be their justification 10 years after project completion.
20 years from now, half of the neighborhood will be a highway. The homes that are left will deteriorate. Then, we’ll have the County and City complaining about crime and blight. There will be no funding to fix it, because there will be no property taxes to collect.
We deserve better than a janky lawyer who promises the world to everyone involved, but can’t deliver on anything. We deserve more than this avenue.
What can we do about it?
Miami Dade County has revised its Long Range Transportation Plan in the past, citing that projects are inconsistent with the comprehensive master plan. BECAUSE THAT IS THE RESPONSIBLE WAY FORWARD. They can do it again.
The Transportation Planning Organization is determines where this funding goes, according to the Mobility Impact Fee regulations. They can reroute funding. Who sits on the TPO? Check out their Long Range Master Plan. Members on in the first few pages. Commissioners are involved.
If Commissioners are telling us they CAN’T do anything about it, they’re really saying that they WON’T do anything about it. Our representatives should be fighting FOR us, not AGAINST us.
The $20 million dollars that will be allocated toward this road widening can go toward bike lanes connecting the smaller streets to the residential collector on 159th, more frequent transit stops along 163rd St and protected bike lanes to encourage public transit and alleviate the amount of cars on the road. Hell, add more lanes to places that *actually have high density uses* if you don’t care about induced demand.
We will say it again:
Transportation is meant to connect PEOPLE to PLACES. NOT roads to more roads.
The solution to congestion is to REDUCE the amount of cars on the roadway, by offering alternative transportation modes and making them easy to access. NOT increasing lanes. MORE LANES LEAD TO MORE TRAFFIC. LAND IS MORE VALUABLE WHEN IT IS REAL PROPERTY, NOT ROADWAYS.
This is the most regressive and irresponsible transportation “improvement” I’ve seen since Miami decimated Overtown with a highway. And it is INSANE that this is being proposed in 2025 when terms like “induced demand,” “displacement” and “multimodal transportation” are going around. In 2025, the County is promoting public transit and pedestrian safety everywhere else, but is somehow completely missing the mark here.
I’ll post the contact information for the commissioners in the comments below. DO NOT LET THEM ROUTE YOU TO PUBLIC WORKS. Ask them:
1. Does this Commissioner sit on the Transportation Planning Organization (TPO)?
2. If the answer is yes, they should be able to tell you what THEY are doing to address this issue.
159th St Mistake 