|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The long-held idea that “you can’t always get what you want” is on the way out for western Miami-Dade County commuters – as a new extension of the SR 836 Dolphin Expressway is on its way in for tens of thousands of residents there who feel choked off from the rest of the world.
They could soon start singing a new tune as a proposed new transportation corridor frees them up to swiftly access existing highways and modern transit to and from the rest of the metropolitan area. Yes transit, too! And it’s about time.
Rush hour from West Dade and West Kendall can take 55-minutes for daily commuters just to get on an expressway like the Florida Turnpike or the Palmetto Expressway. All that traffic is flowing heavily in one direction, from west to east, as commuters leave the western suburbs to travel to employment centers at FIU, Doral, and points east.
And then it all happens again during evening rush hour, which for some commuters, totals upward of three hours a day.
The southwest area of Miami-Dade County has been the fastest growing area of the county with no additional major transportation infrastructure proposed to accommodate that growth. The Turnpike and the Palmetto Expressway alone cannot address the existing demand or the projected capacity needed to provide mobility in this area.
This has long meant longer commutes and a negative impact on the quality of life for residents and businesses. MDX’s proposed new State Road 836 North-South Extension Project would provide additional north-south connectivity and enhance mobility throughout the area. The project would provide greater accessibility to major activity and employment centers located north and east of the rapidly growing residential areas in the south and west.
MDX is currently conducting the planning phase to evaluate the potential environmental, social, natural, and physical impact of the proposed project, but they are now ready for the next phase, with the support of the community – making this one of their highest priorities.
The expressway would also include XT Lanes (Express/Technology) as a platform for an MDX-operated express transit service, as well as an envelope for future rapid transit to be implemented by Miami-Dade County as part of the Smart Plan.
The corridor basically would extend from where the Dolphin ends today at NW 137th Avenue and NW 12th Street and move west and south to approximately SW 120th Street.
Project benefits would include:
The corridor would improve hurricane/emergency evacuation routes and travel times;
Splits east/west traffic flow on arterials between SR 836 Extension and the HEFT;
Evaluates multimodal transportation opportunities; and
Can serve as a potential western barrier to urban sprawl.
With successful implantation of this project, the day will come when anyone living between SW 167th Avenue and 137th Avenue in West Dade or West Kendall will be able to access the SR 836 Dolphin Expressway – within five or 10 minutes of leaving their house.
Area residents are encouraged to stay tuned to MDX updates over the next few months. The project will need public support leading up to design and construction by 2019. A show of hands in the residential and business community is vital to ensuring the project successfully moves through these various approval processes.
It’s time for residents to get what they want – quality of life.
For information, contact MDX at www.mdxway.com or call 305-637-6277.
Comments are closed.