Changes are coming: Sunpass, Streetscape and Alton updates

Another batch of important projects are moving forward that affect Belle Isle and our Venetian Causeway neighbors, and there are key informational meetings coming up to learn more about them:

– The Venetian Causeway will be changing over to SunPass  by year’s end, and Miami-Dade County’s Causeway Division will explain  the shift and answer questions at a meeting Tuesday, May 21.

The meeting, sponsored by the Belle Isle Residents Association, the Venetian Island Homeowners Association and the Venetian Way Alliance, starts at 7 p.m. at 1000 Venetian Way on Biscayne Island.

Expect to learn about increased security, the possibility of raising tolls for non-residents and the possibility of a lower speed limit.

– The Alton Road Reconstruction Coalition will pitch a lower speed limit for Alton Road at the June 12 Miami Beach Land Use Committee meeting, instead of May 22 as had been planned. The May meeting was canceled. The coalition hopes to make the case for a more bicycle-friendly reconstruction of Alton Road.

– On June 5, the Venetian Isle Homeowner Association has scheduled a meeting at the Miami Beach Botanical Gardens so residents can get an overview of the Venetian Streetscape plan from Miami Beach’s capital improvement experts. That work — which includes new sidewalks, lights and landscaping around Rivo Alto, DiLido and San Marino islands — starts in June.

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Ice Box Cafe and Panther Coffee are open for business

Panther Coffee in Sunset Harbour

In case you were wondering….both Ice Box Cafe and Panther Coffee were open and doing a nice lunchtime business in Sunset Harbour on Tuesday…..

The neighborhood should be hopping this weekend!

 

A look back at the Miami causeways and shoreline — before The Miami Herald

This 1930s postcard shows residences and a hotel on The Herald property

It’s a nostalgic time on the west end of the Venetian Causeway.

The Miami Herald printed its last newspapers  two weeks ago at 1 Herald Plaza, on the mainland between the Venetian and MacArthur causeways.

1939 view of downtown looking west.

Since then, office and news gathering operations have been moving to the news organization’s new home in Doral.

The final newsroom employees — and few from other departments — are scheduled to finish packing this week and all will be working in Doral by Friday afternoon.

Some time after that — it’s not clear when — property owner Genting plans to tear down The Herald building to make way for its planned resort (no, it won’t be a casino — at least not yet).

The Miami Herald in 2006.

The Herald’s been on the property for 50 some years. BelleIsleBlog has been trolling eBay again, finding old postcards that provide a view at the bayside property between the Venetian and MacArthur Causeways before The Herald built its offices and printing plant in the early 1960s. The Herald moved to One Herald Plaza from a location on South Miami Avenue in April 1963.

Another view of the Causeways, circa 1939.

The postcards show another Miami — when the port was off an undeveloped Watson Island, and the shoreline south of the MacArthur Causeway (then the County Causeway) featured huge oil tanks. Biscayne Island, the first on the way east on the Venetian Causeway, was barren, used as a landing strip.

The postcard above shows the Boulevard Shops (originally the Shrine Building when buit in 1930) on Biscayne Boulevard — and the Trinity Cathedral to the west of the Venetian Causeway entrance. Both remain, dwarfed by the city that grew up in the next 80-plus years.

Circus elephants cross the Venetian Causeway drawbridge, in 1960, with  Herald building property in background.

Construction on The Herald building began in 1961, and finished with the building opening on April 5, 1963.

Get answers to your questions about SunPass and the Venetian Causeway

The folks at Miami-Dade County’s Causeway Division have been talking about converting the toll collection system on the Venetian Causeway to SunPass for two-plus  years now.

And for just as long, residents from Belle Isle to Biscayne Island have worried that the system — though more efficient — will mean more cars and higher speed on the residential causeway that serves as a haven to runners, cyclists and residents.

In using SunPass instead of the current C-Pass transponders, island residents still would buy a $24 annual pass for the causeway, with a SunPass coded for the use. Other drivers would not longer have to pay by cash.

The most recent prediction from causeway chief Mike Bauman in January was the conversion — once anticipated in fall 2012, will happen at the end of this year.

On Tuesday, May 21, at 7 p.m., county representatives will answer questions at a forum hosted by the Venetian Way Neighborhood Alliance and sponsored jointly with the Belle Island Residents Association and Venetian Island Homeowners Association.

The meeting happens in the community room at 1000 Venetian Way on Biscayne Island, in view of the toll plaza. Among the discussion points on the table:

• Lowering the speed limit on the causeway from 30 miles
• The installation of speed feedback machines along causeway
• Toll lane narrowing
• Maintaining toll “arms”
• Higher tolls for non-residents and/or commuters
• Increased security (cameras, police, etc.)

The city of Miami Beach last week approved tag scanners and cameras for the Miami Beach portion of the causeway. The toll booth is in the city of Miami.

Miami Beach approves auto tag scanners for Venetian Causeway

The city of Miami Beach has decided to buy auto tag readers for police to use on the Venetian Causeway, The Miami Herald’s Christina Veiga reports.

The city also decided to buy a security camera to monitor the drawbridge between Belle Isle and Rivo Alto Island.

It’s something the Venetian Causeway Homeowner Association has been seeking, as Miami Beach police work with the neighborhood to combat home burglaries along the Biscayne Bay islands.

In addition, island residents were concerned about the death of a 65-year-old homeowner  who died after slow emergency response to the islands. At first, an open drawbridge was blamed for the delay, though it was learned the dispatcher took 14 minutes to put through the emergency call.

This week, Veiga reported that the 911 dispatcher who mishandled the call has been diagnosed with a brain tumor.

Sunrise in Sunset Harbour: Panther Coffee, Tequitzlan Mexican and Ice Box may open this week

Panther Coffee is almost ready to brew in Sunset Harbour.

There was a barista behind the gleaming expresso machine at the new Panther Coffee in Sunset Harbour on Saturday, but the coffee house won’t be open until some time later this week.

Management is waiting on a certificate of occupancy from the city of Miami Beach, and it’s a day-to-day thing.  But the space, facing the Sunset Harbour condos, looks great. They won’t be roasting beans here, as they do in Wynwood, but the space seems bigger, with more seating.

A sneak peak into Ice Box.

A couple of shops down at 1855 Purdy Ave., workers labored Saturday at the new Ice Box Cafe location.

The Miami Beach favorite closed its tiny just-off Lincoln Road (on Michigan Avenue ) location on Sunday, and plans to open in Sunset Harbour as soon as Mother’s Day. The new space dwarfs the tiny Lincoln Road location, and features a full bar and lots of table space.

By the way, while traveling last weekend, Belle Isle Blog stumbled upon an Ice Box that opened in Concourse A at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport (near Gate A9, to be specific).

At DFW Airport.

The DFW shop is desserts only, unlike the spot in Miami International, which features a wide range of takeout sandwiches and salads.

Meanwhile, on the Bay Road side of the Shoppes at Sunset Harbour, Tequitzlan Mexican Restaurant and Tequila bar is racing toward an opening day.

Tequitzlan Mexican readies for opening.

The spacious spot features some unique lighting fixtures, and a large bar. The staff on site Saturday said they hope to be open for customers on Thursday.

The restaurants will join the Shoppes pioneers, starting with Juan Plasencia’s Sunset Clothing Co., and Frankie’s Boutique, both of which opened in November.

Last month, ice cream eatery Emack & Bolio opened up, featuring great ice creams and frozen yogurts.

A look at what could be on Alton Road

Yes, the $32 million, 28-month reconstruction of Alton Road has begun.

And yes, getting the Florida Department of Transportation to change direction on a plan bid and begun may be impossible.

A quick look at the Coalition plan.

But….a group called the Alton Road Reconstruction Coalition has assembled a thoughtful ploposal for rebuilding Alton Road to accommodate pedestrians, bikers and commuters with a concept that promotes good air and green space.

The folks behind the plan, led by a group of neighborhood associations, advocate for wider sidewalks, a hike and bike trail on the west side of Alton, a lower Alton Road speed limit and narrower lanes to slow traffic, more shade trees and a center median.

The coalition  Facebook page lists a series of public meetings to make the case, including a May 22 Miami Beach Land Use meeting where a lower speed limit (30mph  instead of 35) will be pitched. There’s also a coalition meeting Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Seymour, 945 Pennsylvania.

The coalition website outlines the plan in detail — what looks right in the FDOT plan and what doesn’t.

So yes, construction has begun. Can the course of action be changed?