As a resident/ reader please note the viewpoints provided that, I at this time would like to share with you on your recent articles pertaining to the homeless funding and to the Mayors proposed new governing roadway board and toll reduction plan.
In ref to the homeless funding issues, very informative article which I found to be very troubling / mind boggling when there were plenty of reserve funds available to assist many of the homeless individuals like other cities have done.
Perhaps these reserve funds available need to be reallocated to the housing agency so that, they can build and provide affordable housing units for the homeless residents that would qualify for housing subsidy assistance.
In ref to the Mayor’s proposal of creating a new governing board, annexing the Florida turnpike roadway in Miami Dade and lowering the toll fees please note that, I am support with the exception of lowering the current toll fees.
Why not leave the toll fees, at the current rates and then utilize these surplus toll funds (in lieu of providing a modest reduction to the commuter / motorists) to expand Metro rail line extensions in Miami Dade starting with the south Dade corridor which already has the bus way spacing needed to build the extension in less than 5 years in lieu of providing proposed express bus service for another 10 to 15 years and then build a rail line (either heavy or light elevated) which would take another 15 years for it to go thru the federal / state funding bureaucracy process for a total of 30 years before rail service becomes a reality for the resident / motorists.
The same also applies for West Dade which desperately needs an elevated rail / mass transit system in West Dade in the center median of Kendall drive to US#1 and the same applies to North Dade 27 Avenue from NW 79 Street to the Broward County line as well.
Last but not least, another easily doable mass transit project is providing mass transit service from downtown Miami over to Miami Beach by simply extending the elevated people mover train tracks which has been in concept studies for over 30 years which is truly a shame.
Let’s stop kicking the can down the road and get the wheels turning more rapidly on all of these mass transit issues by providing the essential funding needed (locally) which can be leveraged against future projected toll revenue income so that, these infrastructure mass transit projects can be fast tracked / expedited which will help the overall local economy by creating temporary and permanent jobs, creating redevelopment opportunities along these roadway corridors that, when finished will generate additional property taxes for the county or the cities, and once these mass transit corridors are operational they will also eventually assist to reduce traffic congestion on all of these public roadway routes as well as improve traffic mobility for all current and future resident / motorists which every local resident / commuter knows is desperately needed.
Providing resident / toll road commuters with a nominal cost savings of an estimated $100 or $200 annually which is a well intended benevolent concept, nevertheless in my estimation this rebate proposal is NOT going to help solve the current mass transit capital / operational funding needs, nor the traffic gridlock conditions and the extended commute travel time woes that, are currently being incurred daily on all of the public roadways by the resident / commuters and these issues are eventually only going to become worse and certainly not better as the population growth increases annually.
I hate to consider what, the traffic conditions will be for commuter / residents traveling on weekdays during peak load rush hours on US#1, Kendal Drive, Biscayne Blvd, 27 Avenue and on the MacArthur Causeway in another 30 years?
Thank you for your time.
Mike Arias
