Task force weighs solutions to downtown traffic snarls

By Catherine Lackner
   Building a tunnel beneath the Miami River, dredging the river deeper and finding ways to reroute traffic to avoid drawbridges are among the solutions city and county officials will consider to unsnarl downtown Miami's tangled traffic.
   A new $630,000 downtown transportation master plan, guided by Miami City Commissioner Johnny Winton and Miami-Dade County Commissioner Bruno Barreiro, will attempt to weave together disparate downtown interests to find some solutions.
   "The task force was prompted by traffic issues created on both sides of river," says Megan Kelly, senior vice president for Swire Properties, who also sits on the master plan task force.
   "It became clear that all of downtown is in need of a comprehensive look at traffic and transportation problems generated by the construction boom. I think their [the task force's] scope of work is massive."
    "What I think it does," Mr. Winton said, "is accomplish something which has been desperately needed for 30 years, based on our vision of what we think our community will look like 20 years. All the transportation gurus say you can't develop a plan beyond 20 years out."
   The group issued a request for proposals for a consultant and is in the process of hiring a consultant from among six applicants. He or she will be hired by October, said Alfredo Gonzalez, an aide to Commissioner Barreiro.
   "They've formed a task force stakeholders in the downtown area - people who work downtown, river people and so on - and they're going to be looking at developing a transportation model," said David Miller, Miami River Commission managing director and member of the group. "The task force is looking at ways to do a better job of planning."
   The new Brickell Avenue bridge, opened in 1996, hasn't eased congestion along that roadway as much as expected and has left both motorists and marine interests dissatisfied, Mr Miller said.
   "A lot of people felt that traffic moved better on Brickell Avenue when the bridge was under construction," he quipped. Though the bridge was raised about eight feet, that height difference is immaterial to most of the large ships that pass through it, Mr. Miller said. And, through the new bridge opened 30% less frequently than its predecessor in the first year of operation, bridge openings continue to snarl traffic on Brickell Avenue.
   Bridges across the river on Southwest Second Avenue and Northwest 12th Avenue, "the lowest bridge on the river," are now slated for replacement, and Mr. Miller said, and hopefully will be lifted higher than the Brickell Bridge was.
   Alternatives - such as the tunnel and the dredging effort - are being investigated as a means to solve the conflict between shipping and car traffic.
   "The Coast Guard, in cooperation with the marine community and with the town people, has allowed bridges to stay in the closed position during the morning and evening rush hours," Mr. Miller said. At all other times, the bridges open on demand. "Right now it seems to work for vehicles but not as well with marine interests."
   If ships can't get out to meet the tides, "they may be delayed, which raises their cost of doing business," he explained.
   Dredging, with a $75-80 million price tag, is being considered to make the river more navigable, he said.
   Industry along the river "is very active in trying to get the river dredged," he said.
   "The river is closing in from side to side and it's getting to be unsafe for navigation," Mr. Miller said. The project is being undertaken for both economic and environmental reasons. "There's a high degree of contamination from petroleum products and storm water from urban Miami," he said.
   The federal government will foot the bill for 80% of the dredging project, with the State of Florida, Miami-Dade County, the City of Miami and the Florida Inland Navigation District paying for the remainder, he said.
   The Army Corps of Engineers will complete the project, which will take two to five years and is expected to remove one million cubic yards of sediment from the sides and center line of the channel.
   The long-discussed tunnel was originally planned to replace the Southwest Second Avenue bridge, said Mr. Gonzalez, Commissioner Barriero's aide, but
   "It's really too late in the process there, so they're looking at other places along the river."
   "All the funding was in line and the state already had a lot to risk in the Second Avenue Bridge replacement," Commissioner Winton confirmed. "So, with all due credit to county, state and city planners, we agreed that the planning departments would meet and try to find an alternate, better location" for the tunnel, which he calls "absolutely feasible."
   Several sites are under consideration but no decision has been made he said
   Meanwhile, on dry land, the task force will also consider better signage to direct visitors through the sometimes-puzzling maze of streets connecting to various bridges.
   "Brickell Avenue is also U.S. 1," Mr. Miller pointed out, "So many people who should use a different route probably get directed to Brickell. There's a lot of room for improvement. The roadway system signage sometimes directs you to a bridge that you don't want to go over and the one-way traffic puts you in line for that bridge."
Details: Commissioner Johnny Winton (305) 250-5333, Commissioner Bruno Barreiro, (305)-643-8525.