87th Ave Bridge Proposal Continues to Divide Community

Miami FL

28 November, 2021

6:44 PM

Description

In the small South Dade Village of Palmetto Bay there is a struggle of David vs Goliath proportions regarding traffic solutions. The issue is coming to a head on Monday November 29th, 2021, at a Special Meeting of the Palmetto Bay Village Council as a result of resident outrage over a hastily passed resolution by newly appointed County Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins back in February. The Resolution to build a bridge extending Southwest 87th Avenue over a drainage canal, which will transform a quiet dead-end street into a busy north-south thoroughfare, was passed without prior notice to the public as a "Covid Emergency." As a result, the public had no opportunity to give meaningful comment. Newly appointed Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgens held no town hall meetings to consider the nuances of the traffic issues plaguing Palmetto Bay and South Dade residents for over 2 decades. The Commission passed the item and sent it to the Transportation Planning Organization ("TPO"), which voted to amend the 2021 Transportation Improvement Plan to include the proposed 87th Avenue bridge. At two community meetings on Monday November 29th, 2021, the Palmetto Bay Council members will take up two items that arise from this problematic resolution. The first will take place at 3pm and is a conflict resolution where representatives from the Village of Palmetto Bay and representatives from the TPO will discuss issue raised by the Village regarding the decision to construct the 87th Avenue bridge. The second item is a Special Meeting of the Village Council to consider a resolution for a "Letter to the County Mayor" regarding the Village's opposition to the construction of the 87th Avenue bridge. How did we get here? On one side you have residents of Palmetto Bay who have been asking Miami Dade County for solutions to cut-through traffic from their growing neighbors to the south for the past 2 decades. On the other side you have Miami Dade County, which is being pressured to ignore numerous traffic studies which recommend a multi-pronged approach to traffic solutions. Once residents of Palmetto Bay found out what had taken place, they felt betrayed because in 2018 residents had been assured by then-Commissioner Daniela Levine-Cava that a multi solution approach was indeed in the works. Some of these solutions included expanding the turnpike currently underway, improving capacity on US1 through "Smart Signals", implementing Rapid Transit Bus Service, expanding it south, etc. Never did a solution call for a single bridge. The solution now proposed by Danielle Cohen Higgins pins neighbor against neighbor in a win or lose type of a solution, even though any small win, the latest study says some drivers south will save 60 seconds on their commute, comes at the price of irreparable harm to vast portions of the neighborhood. We need an inclusive approach that had been previously promised in 2018. Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins refused all resident requests for a meeting and their voices remain unheard. Why should you care if you don't live in Palmetto Bay? Every resident in Miami-Dade County contends with traffic congestion and cut-through traffic, and everyone agrees we need long term, comprehensive solutions. Every resident suffers when our elected officials fail to properly notice meetings and fail to listen to resident input. The use of the Covid emergency powers to pass this resolution regarding a bridge on 87th Avenue, which was not a covid emergency, violates both the Covid emergency powers and the Miami-Dade Citizen's Bill of Rights. Commissioner Cohen Higgins has a real conflict of interest because she lives within 150 feet of another dead end to a canal street, which again creates an inherent conflict of interest because no one wants the bridge to be put next to their house because it will create a dangerous level of traffic, will increase noise, threaten both children and adult neighborhood pedestrians and cyclists, reduce the property values of the surrounding homes, and undermine quality of life. Section 2-11.1(d) of the County Ethics Code, Voting Conflicts, prohibits an elected official from voting and/or participating in a matter presented to the elected body if she "would or might, directly or indirectly, profit or be enhanced by the action of the [board]…" Bad process equals bad legislation The 87th Avenue bridge proposal is wrong and harmful because it encourages traffic through a residential street. We need comprehensive, holistic solutions to our traffic problems, not political moves, and this seems to be a political move, instead of a move that improves the neighborhood. This item was improperly passed as a "covid emergency" and needs to come back before the County Commission as a proper notice so residents' voices can be heard. Commissioner Cohen Higgins should not have been involved in any vote regarding where to put bridges in the Village of Palmetto Bay because her home is immediately adjacent to one of the proposed bridge sites. What is Village of Palmetto Bay asking for? Palmetto Bay residents were successful at the November 2nd, 2021 meeting and convinced Village Councilmembers to pass a resolution to legally challenge the bridge resolution in court and continue to urge their elected officials to bring a lawsuit to invalidate the Resolution so that comprehensive traffic solutions can be crafted that benefit everyone. As set forth in the proposed letter to Mayor Daniela Levine Cava: We ask you to veto the bridge. We ask that you do not fund it. We ask that you not award any contract to build it. We ask that you do not support it in any way within your ability as a strong Miami-Dade County Mayor. Ineska Stojsic, Resident of Village of Palmetto Bay David Winker, Esq., Community Attorney