My counter proposal to Tallahassee legislators offers an exciting solution to our transportation challenges that will result in a 20 percent savings in tolls for all drivers who use MDX roads and Florida’s Turnpike in Miami-Dade County.
This is a common-sense, vetted solution that will result in almost $9 billion in savings over the next three decades and deliver another $1.85 billion during that time for transportation projects in our county, including transit projects in the SMART plan.
As we pass the halfway point of the legislative session, I urge our legislative delegation to step back and take a much closer look at my proposal. This is a win-win for our county residents, a true game changer. Best of all, all toll dollars collected would remain in our county, instead of having a portion of the tolls on the turnpike that are now siphoned off to other parts of the state.
I have been hearing from mayors and other elected officials throughout our county who are in full support, constituents who are thrilled to hear they could get such substantial relief, as well as independent truckers who travel in large semis of more than three axles and would save 50 percent on extra tolls that the state’s turnpike charges for semis with more than three axles. (Our local MDX caps the charge at three axles.)
Miami-Dade County has long been our state’s cash cow, with 60 percent of our local toll money going to the state system of Florida’s Turnpike and to the I-95 express lanes, instead of going to our local Miami-Dade Expressway Authority (MDX), where those funds would do the most good in improving both the operations and upkeep of our roads.
My proposal clearly outlines the fiscal wisdom and strategic benefits that would be reaped with the creation of a new Transportation Authority of Miami-Dade (TAMD) that would consolidate MDX and the Homestead Extension of Florida’s Turnpike (HEFT). The new board would be made up of elected officials who are accountable to the people they serve. By leveraging the toll revenues that those two separate entities currently generate, we will have the financial resources needed to improve the county’s burgeoning transportation infrastructure. Initial projections show that tolls can immediately be lowered by 20 percent on both MDX and HEFT roads once these two systems are merged and the TAMD takes on the outstanding debt.
Another key component of my plan is severing the current ties between tolls and the Consumer Price Index (CPI). As it now stands, the state requires that every time the CPI goes up, so do tolls. MDX has resisted such hikes. By breaking this link under a new merged TAMD, toll payers in Miami-Dade County will save $4.5 billion.
Plus, a merger would free another $1.85 billion for much-needed public transportation improvements in our community over 33 years (the life of the bonds), including support for the People’s Transportation Plan.
The bottom line is that moving forward this new TAMD action plan would mean that money collected in Miami-Dade County would stay in our community, directly benefiting the people who live and businesses that operate in our region, and dramatically improve the transportation system upon which they rely.
It would continue the five-year plan already in place for MDX roadways. It also ensures that the 600,000 residents of southwest Miami-Dade and West Kendall will not be denied funding for the Kendall Parkway project already approved by the Board of County Commissioners. That crucial project will provide both expressway access and Express Bus options for residents, and protect the Everglades as well as more than 1,000 acres of delicate wetlands.
I appreciate that the proposal for a state takeover of MDX offered by Sen. Manny Diaz Jr., and Rep. Bryan Avila sought to end tolls by 2045. As of Apr. 4, they were floating another proposal that seeks to offer a toll break, but only on MDX roads. Instead of almost $9 billion in savings, as my plan proposes, this latest plan from legislators would deliver only $2.5 billion in savings and the tolls on the turnpike for cars and trucks would remain without any savings. The CPI would continue. Plus, the five-year plan to continue to improve roads would not be accomplished.
The legislators’ plan puts Tallahassee in charge of our local roads and local dollars. That’s not right. My proposal, however, offers a 20 percent cut in tolls (and even more on the turnpike) as soon as the TAMD is created and decisions would be made here locally — not by an agency in Tallahassee. All toll dollars would remain in our community to tackle future projects — as it should be.
I thank the legislators for encouraging me to think outside the box on transportation solutions. I encourage you to contact your legislators and seek their support so we can get moving.
