Reprinted from BHA News Summer 2007
Construction Sprawl: Five+ years later, "take back the streets" ordinance passed by City
It was back in November 2001 when BHA passed a Resolution objecting to construction sprawl. It was formally presented to the City Commission in January 2002. The resolution’s themes were pedestrian safety and taking back the streets and sidewalks usurped by contractors.
After hearing BHA’s concerns, the Commission instructed City staff to look into the problem. But it languished and nothing was done.
Fast forward to 2007. BHA addressed this issue with its new District 2 Commissioner, Marc Sarnoff, who agreed that this is a serious problem, not only a matter of inconvenience and quality of life, but of public safety. Commissioner Sarnoff presented the ordinance May 10th and at BHA’s urging, the Commission passed it unanimously as an Emergency Ordinance, bypassing the need and delay of a second reading.
Slowly neighbors should see less use of sidewalks and streets by contractors, less construction sprawl and more protected pedestrian walkways adjacent to construction sites. This is required in other cities; Miami should have the same standards. Word on the street is, however, at the time of this writing in late June, that the contractors are balking, not wanting to incur the costs associated with planning for and protecting the public. •
Photo: President Tory Jacobs showed up at City Hall to present to the Commission's May meeting with the 5-year-old resolution exhibit first used in 2002, showing its age and weariness awaiting real action by the City.
Excerpts of BHA comments from January 2002 presentation to the City about Construction Sprawl, still applicable today
"...We would like to see the City take a holistic approach to development. Rather than just consider each individual project, recognize the cumulative impact of all the proposed development.
We would like to see the City approve only development that can be supported by existing infrastructure.
Finally, we call on the City to find the means to coordinate the work of all entities digging up the streets and sidewalks or blocking same with construction and filming equipment to minimize disruption to the public’s use of these facilities. We would like to see police, flagmen and/or traffic aides on hand to enforce regulations and facilitate traffic movement.
Obviously, this will be no easy task … coordinating the several juristrictions and entities involved, FDOT, the County, the several utilities. But, the City must control by whom, when and where use of our streets and sidewalks is impeded...."
Reprinted from BHA News Spring 2002
Galvanizing Gridlock: Residents Unite to Take Back the Streets
While traffic has long been a major issue for BHA, in the past several months traffic trauma has taken on a new dimension. The most frequent complaint used to be speeding vehicles on residential Brickell Avenue.
Now the boom in development in the Brickell corridor and surrounding areas has given birth to a new source of angst: extensive tie-ups caused by construction activity. At the same time, the growth has fostered an undercurrent of worry about what all the new development - and the people that will make use of the new properties - means for the future of the neighborhood and surrounding business district.
Trucks and related vehicles of mass construction added to poorly timed traffic signals, a too-low Brickell Bridge that must be frequently raised to accommodate vessels on the Miami River, and a huge volume of incoming Downtown workers concentrated in the Monday-Friday work week hours have led to outcry from Brickell's residential and business communities.
The first part of the problem is short-term: how do those currently in the area work, live and otherwise coexist with construction activity while the new projects are being built? And the second part begs an important question about what's to come: how will we support all these new buildings and people living and working in the area?
"Adequate roads, sewers, water, schoolswe don't have these," Bristol Tower resident Melvin Frankel said. "Where are people going to move? We have to speak up and take action."
BHA Spearheads Action
BHA directors were in unanimous agreement last November that something had to be done. They began by passing a resolution to present to the City of Miami Commission and appointing Judge John Gale, BHA director representing Villa Regina, to head the BHA Traffic Committee.
In trying to unravel the complaints surrounding the new construction activity, it became apparent that many problems emanated from the lack of coordinated responsibility, authority and enforcement when it comes to new development. By County charter, all transportation issues are managed by Miami-Dade everything from controlling the traffic lights to master planning for the future. Yet the permits for construction are granted by the municipalities (in our case City of Miami) where the new development will occur. And then when developers' construction crews tie up and block streets, we look to our police force to come on the scene and make them behave.
Clearly, a holistic approach was needed, especially since some 20 new development projects have been reported in process, each permitted in its own right and on independent timetables, without a look at the big picture of all projects scrambling to get built and without addressing the infrastructure needs they create.
City Agrees, Builds Community Coalition
Commissioner Johnny Winton sponsored the presentation of BHA's resolution (see opposite page) to City of Miami Commissioners at their January meeting. By the time of this meeting, BHA had circulated its proposed resolution to other community groups and citizens who were feeling the same frustrations and wanting corrective action. Several businesses, associations and homeowner groups joined forces with BHA in asking that the City take the lead in resolving the daily hassles and address what would be done to accommodate the continuing growth in the area. Commissioners took the resolution very seriously, passed it unanimously, and instructed City staffers to make recommendations on how to address both the short- and long-term problems.
At the same time Swire Properties, developer for much of Brickell Key and a strong participant in the community, initiated an innovative way to convey to Miami-Dade County traffic controllers just how bad the situation was getting, especially for drivers leaving Brickell Key when the Brickell Bridge was up.
Stories of drivers waiting 30 minutes to get off the island were becoming everyday tales of woe, and Swire executives could look out of their Brickell Key office windows and see traffic backed up and at a standstill throughout the day. So, at the company's own expense, Swire set up a camera to take photos whenever the roadway is in gridlock, then automatically transmit the pictures to Miami-Dade Traffic Control.
"When it's tied up, it takes a shot," Daniel Ponce of the Brickell Key Master Association explained. "Then Robert Williams at Miami-Dade Traffic Control researches what caused the tie up and reports back."
Swire's creative approach and other community-generated suggestions have lead to solutions for some relief. Concerned parties have come together in a series of town hall-styled meetings focusing exclusively on traffic concerns in the Brickell business and residential districts. At the second meeting in late February, 95 people were in attendance to hear from Commissioner Johnny Winton, City of Miami Police, traffic specialists from both the City and County and others about what steps are being taken to coordinate construction crews and resolve longer term traffic issues.
A great deal of the improvements made in the past several weeks have been spearheaded by NET Commander Frank Fernandez who has taken on the congestion challenge and has worked doggedly to coordinate with all the involved entities. Officers actively directing traffic and controlling construction obstructions, ticketing delivery vehicles and others illegally parked, and circulating flyers with alternative routes for motorists are among the tactics put in place.
"Our solutions aren't for five or 10 years; they're for now," Commander Fernandez said.
The Crux of the Congestion
Much attention has revolved around the Southeast Eighth Street and Brickell Avenue intersection, the launch location of "a multiphase improvement plan," as described by the City's traffic expert, Clark Turner. The traffic signal timing at that intersection was changed from a brief nine seconds to 36 seconds for westbound Eighth Street drivers, which many residents applauded as a huge improvement. And when the improved timing isn't keeping cars moving, Commander Fernandez's police officers can often be found directing traffic at the intersection, overriding the lights to keep traffic flowing.
Another logical improvement was made working with County traffic controllers on signal synchronization with the Brickell Bridge. Now when the bridge is up, the traffic lights on Brickell Avenue remain red rather than changing back and forth to green in their usual cycle. The green lights encouraged drivers to try to go when they couldn't, and instead cars ended up blocking the intersections making it impossible for anyone to move, even those not attempting to cross the raised bridge.
A plan is in the works to establish a "don't block the box" campaign to enforce what seems to be a forgotten traffic rule of drivers not blocking intersections when waiting to get through. It will be launched in the coming few weeks at the Brickell Avenue and Eighth and Seventh Street intersections.
Variable message signs in the area will advise drivers of the rule, lines will be painted in the intersection representing "the box," and violators will receive a moving violation and $87 fine for the first offense, Commander Fernandez said. The program is modeled after New York City's, which has been effective in keeping intersections clear with a $250 fine for Big Apple blockers. Taxicab drivers even observe the rule.
Why One Way?
It appears that an idea that has been kicked around for while will come to fruition as another component in the solution mix for the congestion. Traffic planners, and even the casual observer, can't help but imagine that it would be better if Eighth Street was two way, at least from Brickell to Miami Avenue, to provide drivers with northerly alternatives to the Brickell Bridge.
Plans are in the works to acquire the dedication of property on Eighth Street for those two blocks so that a westbound lane can be added to the three one-way eastbound lanes already there. When that happens, which Mr. Turner anticipates within the coming 12 months, drivers coming from Brickell Key, Brickell Bay Drive or Brickell Avenue can head west and use the much higher Miami Avenue Bridge to drive north instead of the Brickell Bridge, which currently gets more than four times the amount of vehicles crossing it daily as compared to the Miami Avenue Bridge. With the change to a two-way Eighth Street, drivers will no longer have to make the additional jog to Seventh Street to go west.
Tunnel Vision Keeps Surfacing
Of course, if the Brickell Bridge never had to be raised for vessels on the water, or if it had been constructed higher when it was renovated and reopened in December 1995, or if it had been converted to a tunnel, most of the traffic tie-ups in the Brickell area would be eliminated. Traffic specialists are working with the Coast Guard to try to reduce the number of bridge openings, especially for pleasure craft. The Coast Guard has had an ongoing effort to educate and remind recreational boaters that all antennas, Bimini tops and outriggers that can be lowered should be to permit passage under bridges.
Curfews on bridge openings during the morning and afternoon rush hours are already in place and some residents have suggested adding a lunch hour curfew as well. Most don't realize however, that the Miami River is the state's fourth largest port, so further restrictions on the already challenging waterway would have severe economic consequences for the cargo industry on the working Miami River.
So, the notion of a tunnel under the bridge seems logical, albeit costly. Slated but unfunded in the County's 20-year master plan, the tunnel would be located on the west side of the Metrorail line that goes over the river. The tunnel entrance on the north side would be just south of First Street and it would come out around Seventh or Eighth Street.
Other longer-term changes under consideration include making Eighth Street two way all the way to 27th Avenue. The stretch from 27th Avenue to Biscayne Bay is the only part of the Tamiami Trail all the way to Naples that isn't two way, Mr. Turner said.
Traffic specialists are also examining the Dupont Plaza area at the Second Avenue and Second Street intersection where all must pass through, creating a bottleneck with no alternatives. Plans are underway to make the stretch of Miami Avenue just north of the River two-way so that drivers don't have to circle around several blocks of Downtown to continue their northern routes.
A Change in Thinking
All the transportation issues can be solved, Mr. Turner believes, if the collective "we" of Miami-Dade change our thinking from "small town to big city." Plus, the solutions and technology exist in other parts of the country and world, so it isn't a matter of having to invent anything new, just copy effective models already in place in other cities, he said.
"You aren't a big city until you start thinking like a big city," Mr. Turner said. Examples of small town thinking?
"The private automobile is the only means of transportation for any trip, no matter how small. Public transportation doesn't exist," he said.
"Walking is for tree huggers and fitness freaks; public transit is for poor people, the elderly and other losers" and "pedestrians compete for street space so they should quit walking and get into cars," Mr. Turner offered in his tongue-in-cheek, self-described "sermon."
Big city thinking, on the other hand, includes different concepts: "Automobiles live in garages and come out on weekends; walking, buses, trains and taxicabs are the normal and desirable ways to get around; and traffic congestion is a way of life, but who cares except the obstinate people who insist on using cars," Mr. Turner said.
Big cities, of course, have been good at providing a variety of transportation options for a long time, having the advantage of being developed during the transportation boom. Sunbelt cities like ours never had mass transit like northeastern big cities; we grew up during the automobile boom.
"Miami has to stop thinking small town and act as if we are big. We have to take a serious look at the real, hidden public subsidy of the automobile when looking at the costs of mass transit and we can't let elected officials get away with continuing to think small town," Mr. Turner said.
