Proposed SR 874 extension ramp to SW 128th Street – A Bridge to Nowhere

It had always been my impression – and the stated element of the MDX five year plan – that the proposed ramps exiting the south end of the Don Shula Expressway were going to connect to SW 136th Street as part of the overall SR 836 southwestern extension – which made some kind of sense.

But now, apparently, the plan is to connect the ramps to SW 128th street, which makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

First of all, SW 128th Street effectively dead-ends at the entrance to Tamiami Airport at SW 137th avenue, and would require the additional expense to taxpayers of widening SW 128th Street to achieve this quick route to a dead end a few miles down the road – whereas SW 136th Street is already a four lane divided roadway from SW 122nd Avenue all the way west past the southern boundary of Tamiami Airport to SW 157th Avenue.

Second of all, the widening of SW 128th Street jeopardizes the environmentally sensitive Tamiami pinelands preserve on the north side of the street between SW 130th and 134th Avenues. Any attempt to infringe upon this preserve or subject it to additional stress resulting from increased automobile and truck emissions, sound and vibration will result in years of environmental legal warfare (to which I will be an enthusiastic party) that will stall a project that really does need to be undertaken – but eight blocks further south.

Third of all, if the object is to relieve congestion at the SW120th Street and SW 152nd Street interchanges of HEFT, what is the point of constructing a new exit a mere eight blocks to the south of 120th Street that will have almost no impact on the 152nd street interchange? Why create congestion on 137th Avenue between SW 136th Street and 128th Street, and especially on SW 136th Street as eastbound traffic from Country Walk and other local developments piles up waiting to turn left at the 137th Avenue intersection to go north and access eastbound SW 128th Street – and then reverses the congestion in the evening as westbound traffic queues up to turn left at the airport gate dead end to go south on 137th avenue thence to go west again on 136th Street? SW 137th Avenue is congested enough already without creating a new bottleneck there. You’re re-inventing the wheel here, and badly at that.

Finally, what sense does it make to connect this proposed exit to the Shula Expressway and not to HEFT as well if the object is to relieve congestion at the SW 120th and 152nd Street interchanges with the Turnpike? It may be that the Turnpike Authority has its own plans to link up with these ramps but nothing in your notification states that it does. Not to do so would be just plain stupid.

The original plan to extend the Shula ramps southward to connect with SW 136th Street made MUCH more sense. This new plan to connect to SW 128th Street just doesn’t do the job it’s meant to do on any level. There will be both taxpayer and environmental opposition to it and needless delay. Scrap it and go back to the original plan to connect to SW 136th Street.


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3 COMMENTS

  1. Thankful that there will be access to the 874 by some means other than that never ending construction disaster at 152nd street. Can’t wait for this project to finish. In my opinion it would’ve made more sense to do it at SW 136 St, as that is already a 4 lane road, but other than that I have no complaints here. Traffic congestion in West Kendall has increased exponentially the past few years, and expressway access will only help to alleviate.

  2. Thank God they chose 128th street as opposed to the aforementioned 136th st plan. My guess is that you don’t live in one of the abutting residences on 136th st and therefore have no regard for the noise and traffic concerns this plan would create. 136th street is indeed 4 lanes all the way down to 157th ave and it would be a shame to clog it with congestion from the highway.

    It’s a shame you fail to see the environmental impact of the originally proposed plan. My house faces 136th st and all I have to say is it’s a good thing mdx has more courtesy than someone like you. My house was built in 2002 and by 2006, 136th st, which started out as 2 lanes, already became 4 lanes from 137th ave to 127th. The traffic flow is continuous, ranging from regular Joe Schmo passenger cars to 18 wheelers and dump trucks, as well as the occasional street biker who full-throttles it at 3 am.

    Everytime I drive past the future bridge in the making, it reminds me how thankful I am that mdx was looking out for the people. Plus, your argument is very weak, because 128th st is the closest street to the actual 874 bridge. Take a look at Google Maps sometime and you’ll see just how much sense the current location makes.

  3. Government doesn't do the practical but who has bought the land and can make the most out of it

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