When: Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Time: 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Location: Holiday Park – Social Center, 1150 G Harlond Martin Drive, Fort Lauderdale, FL

Please contact Elizabeth Chang @ echang@hollywoodfl.org for more information.

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Here’s a funny that someone sent us from the good people at xkcd.com Do you have a favorite transportation-themed cartoon? Good ideas (and transit humor) are better shared. We love to hear from you.

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Unfortunately, what happens above sometimes comes at the expense of  those below.

Every day, as I exit to 27th Ave from the 112 Airport Extension, I’ve  noticed an increasing amount of construction debris on the sides of the  road. Every day, week, month is gets worse and worse.  A few items I’ve  noticed….a leaning Yield sign, a knocked over barricade in the lane  of traffic,  an orange safety cone next to the barricade, several large nuts & bolts, a wrench, and so on. These are not articles that have  fallen off passing cars. These items are littering the exit ramp, as a  result of construction, a disaster waiting to happen.  Even the storm  drain is clogged with debris and a huge pool of water forms every time  it rains, which is basically every day, because the water has no where  to go.

Someone should be responsible for the removal of debris caused by the  construction. If not daily, at least weekly, or monthly.  This situation at this exit has gotten to the point where it poses a safety  issue. What if it was night time and someone runs over that knocked  over barricade? What if a truck tire kicks up that wrench and it hits a
car traveling behind it?  What if……

A couple of weeks ago, I got 2 flat tires as I was navigating through  the minefield of debris.  I had enough!

I made a call to Miami Dade Transit Authority…spoke to a gentleman that  was responsible for the construction oversight.  I explained the  situation and my concerns.  It was explained to me that the contractor is responsible for cleaning the construction related debris.  It  doesn’t matter who is responsible, the debris is there, its dangerous  and should be cleaned immediately. I feel, someone was not doing their  job. I was informed that MDTA was going to look into it.

The next day after my discussion with MDTA, as I was driving to work and  taking the 27th Ave exit, I noticed the exit was completely cleared of  ALL debris, the Yield sign was upright and 5 men were working to clear  the storm drain.

We often use this forum to gripe about what is wrong in our communities  and the city.

This time, I want to use this forum to publicly say THANK YOU!!!

THANK YOU to MDTA for returning my calls promptly.
THANK YOU MDTA for taking prompt action.
THANK YOU MDTA for being efficient.

I was born in this city and I’m proud to call Miami my home!

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Nevertheless, in what can only be called sloppy oversight and lack of interest in the pedestrian realm by FDOT, pedestrian crosswalks, blocks away, also stay red and fail to turn green.  This means that when the drawbridge is up, crosswalk lights as far away as 3-4 blocks away from the bridge stay red, indicating to pedestrians that they cannot cross Brickell Avenue or go north / south along intersecting streets.

This of course makes no sense and creates a lot of confusion amongst pedestrians. Why should pedestrians be prevented from crossing Brickell Avenue because the bridge is up 4 blocks away?  Why are pedestrians prevented from crossing SW 8th St when the bridge is up?   This obvious problem has probably been going on for years.

Check out the video below I took a couple weeks ago along SW 8th Street and Brickell Avenue that highlights this problem.  The intersection on the video is 4 blocks away from the drawbridge, yet crosswalks stay red to cross Brickell Avenue or to cross SW 8th Street.  As a result, we see dangerous conditions for pedestrians.

Why?  Who knows…  One thing is for sure, this needs to change ASAP.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUWuvGONHh0

By the way, as can be seen on the video, drivers are left wondering why the traffic light fails to turn green and therefore run the red light.  One word of advice to FDOT, put some kind of indicator at traffic lights to let drivers know that the lights are staying red for a prolonged period of time because the drawbridge is up.

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According to FDOT’s stated values, they are “Customer Driven-We listen to our customers”. The customers have spoken with one voice and they all want a lower speed limit. Another FDOT stated value: “Integrity-We always to the right thing”.

Will FDOT do the right thing? We sure hope so.

The following organizations also support a lower speed limit:

Miami DDA

South Florida Bike Coalition

Green Mobility Network

Bicycle Action Committee

Transit Miami is scheduled to meet with Commissioner Sarnoff in a couple of weeks and we have requested a meeting with Mayor Regalado as well. We trust the City of Miami will support a lower speed limit too.

If you know of any other organizations that would like to join our coalition, please let us know in the comments section.

Thank you to everyone that supports a more pedestrian-friendly Brickell Avenue.

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According to FDOT’s stated values, they are “Customer Driven-We listen to our customers”. The customers have spoken with one voice and they all want a lower speed limit. Another FDOT stated value: “Integrity-We always to the right thing”.

Will FDOT do the right thing? We sure hope so.

The following organizations also support a lower speed limit:

Miami DDA

South Florida Bike Coalition

Green Mobility Network

Bicycle Action Committee

Transit Miami is scheduled to meet with Commissioner Sarnoff in a couple of weeks and we have requested a meeting with Mayor Regalado as well. We trust the City of Miami will support a lower speed limit too.

If you know of any other organizations that would like to join our coalition, please let us know in the comments section.

Thank you to everyone that supports a more pedestrian-friendly Brickell Avenue.

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Join the fun this Saturday at Sra. Martinez (4000 NE 2nd Ave) in the Design District as we toast the new lanes!

Bike lanes and other bicycle infrastructure/road treatments have been proven to do much more than increase bicycling; they make streets safer for everyone.TransitMiami.com encourages you to be involved in your community and to engage your policymakers on transportation issues. This evening’s free, informal gathering provides us the opportunity to meet you in person and you with a good talking point for your own leaders: “Hey Commissioner, when are we getting those promised new lane treatments?“

Read more about the new bike lane and party at SouthFloridaBikeCoalition.org

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