Okay, you already know you can’t go north on Alton Road from 17th Street to Michigan.
For Tuesday, at least, one southbound lane on Alton Road will be closed between Dade Boulevard and 19th Street. In a press release, the city of Miami Beach says at least one southbound lane will stay open.
Eek.
The closure is for water main repairs. The closed lanes are supposed to reopen by Wednesday.
It’s great to be popular, as long as you can stand the traffic.
Miami Beach is a frequent destination for presidential visitors (the real deal or candidates who want to be). President Obama is coming to town Wednesday for a fundraiser on the Sunset Islands.
His travel back and forth will take place between 5:30 p.m. and 10 p.m., and for portions of that time span, there will be delays on the Julia Tuttle Causeway, Alton Road and the general area around the Sunset islands.
If you are coming home across the Tuttle, you might want to consider the Venetian. Or coming home early.
Considered yourself warned.
Posted in City Issues, Events, People, Traffic
Tagged Alton Road, fundraiser, Julia Tuttle Causeway, President Obama
The Alton Road Reconstruction Coalition – a grassroots group pushing for more of a mixed-use rebuild of Alton Road by the Florida Department of Transportation– starts a series of community meetings tonight (Monday) at 6 p.m. at the Police Athletic League offices, 999 11th St.
There also is a discussion Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. at David’s Cafe, 1058 Collins Ave.
And Wednesday at 5 p.m., Alton Road’s design is on the City Commission agenda. That’s in the city of Miami Beach Commission Chambers, third floor, 1700 Convention Center Dr.
Work on rebuilding Alton began fittingly on April 1 by FDOT. They embarked on a 28-month, $32 million project that includes the construction of new pumping stations at Fifth, 10th and 14th Streets to battle chronic flooding in the Alton Road-West Avenue area. It wil also bring new signage, stoplights and street lights.
What it doesn’t do is make Alton Road work better for pedestrians or bicyclists, and that’s and important part of the transportation equation on South Beach.
The Alton Road coalition, which includes several neighborhood associations, advocates 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.
From its latest newsletter:
Miami-Dade County has finally hired a firm to handle the software conversion of the Venetian and Rickenbacker causeway toll systems to SunPass, but the change won’t be in place before fall 2014.
The change will convert the causeway to SunPass or toll-by-plate payment, residents were told in a Wednesday night gathering put together by the Venetian Way Alliance, the Venetian Island Homeowner Association and the Belle Isle Residents Association.
In other words: no cash, no toll takers, no toll arms that sometimes don’t go up, and no need for a special C-Pass lane for island residents.
It’s expected to reduce backups, but many island residents worried that greater efficiency will lure more traffic to a residential roadway.
Island property owners will still be able to pass through the causeway with a $24-a-year residents’ rate; their SunPass will have to be programmed for it.
The fall 2014 target is another delay in the conversion, which at one point had been planned for Fall 2012. But no one at Wednesday’s meeting bemoaned the delay. Most residents expressed concern that while the switch will make the toll booth easier to pass through, it will lure more traffic.
The Miami-Dade County representatives — Mike Bauman, the chief of the causeway division at Public Works; Tony Cotarela, the interim county engineer, and Chris Rose, deputy director of administration for Miami-Dade County — repeatedly heard from residents worried about traffic increases.
Bauman said that Miami-Dade has no choice but the make this change. The old system is failing from a technical standpoint, and state law requires that any new toll system be SunPass compatible.
“We contracted with a company that has done it in other places,” Bauman said.. “The contract is to install equipment…There will not longer be cash accepted in any way. It is our plan to remove toll gates and have free flowing traffic through the toll gates.”
The contractor is Transcore LP, a company headquartered in Pennsylvania, according to Public Works spokeswoman Gayle Love. The five-year contract cost is $4 million; if the county decides to renew the four five-year options, the total contract cost would be $12 million.
Rose said the county is considering a 25 cent increase in the $1.50 one-way causeway toll for the budget year that begns Oct. 1; residents asked for even greater toll increases to discourage additional traffic and create more revenue.
Ultimately, toll rates will be decided by the Miami-Dade Commission Rose said, not county staff or Mayor Carlos Gimenez.
Other nuggets that emerged during nearly 90 minutes of discussion:
– The county expects to need to spend an estimated $110 million in 10 years to rebuild the dozen bridges that make up the causeway. Much of the money will need to come from toll revenue. So higher tolls are likely, and increased traffic volume times higher tolls (and less expense with automatic toll collection) helps pay the bill.
– The county is opening to future toll increases, and even the notion of variable tolls, like on the Interstate 95 express lanes. With variable tolls, it would cost more to cross the causeway when traffic is greater. SunPass can do that, Bauman said, adding “we would consider congestion pricing.”
– The county is likely to make the far right lane in each direction (now the C-Pass lane) into permanent bike and pedestrian lanes. That would still leave two lanes each way for SunPass, with no toll gates.
– The county will install “speedback signs” at several points on the cause that flash when drivers exceed the speed limit. The engineers believe these signs combined with enforcement do decrease speeding.
– The county said there is no data that suggests the change to automatic tolls will inrease traffic. But Bauman and Rose said the county has not done any kind of study that predicts how the change to automatic tolls will impact traffic.
This was the most contentious subject at the meeting. Residents asked that the county study the impact, and rejected the notion that the change won’t draw more cars.
Posted in City Issues, Traffic, Venetian Causeway
Tagged speed humps, SunPass, tolls, traffic calming, variable tolls
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.
–
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.
Posted in City Issues, Events, Traffic, Venetian Causeway
Tagged C Pass, Miami-Dade Public Works, SunPass, tolls
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.
Posted in City Issues, Traffic, Venetian Causeway
Tagged miami beach, police, security, Venetian Islands Homeowners
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?
Posted in City Issues, Development, Traffic
Tagged Alton Road, Alton Road Reconstruction Coalition, FDOT, Transit Miami
The Miami Beach Police Department has scheduled something called a “Memorial Day Symposium” to discuss traffic, security and crowd management preparations for the annual Urban Weekend.
The meeting happens at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, May 8 at the Miami Beach Police Department Community Room, 1100 Washington Ave.
Last year, Miami Beach police had officers on nearly every corner of the Venetian Causeway islands, with signs posted warning drivers the causeways was for locals only.
A traffic control strategy squeezed eastbound traffic from Miami to Miami Beach from three lanes to one at certain times on the MacArthur and Julia Tuttle causeways, and license tag scanners were used to check for drivers with outstanding arrest warrants.
Police used DUI checkpoints as well.
We’ll see if the plan for 2013 is as aggressive.
“The primary goal of the Police Department during this weekend is to maintain public safety for residents and visitors and to proactively address issues….to reduce potential future problems,” according to the city email announcing Wednesday’s meeting.
Posted in City Issues, Events, Traffic, Venetian Causeway
Tagged Memorial Day, miami beach, police, Urban Weekend
Proposed Residence Inn site north of 17th Street
The Miami Beach Planning Board approved the proposed Marriott Residence Inn at 17th Street and West Avenue on Wednesday night, after more than four-and-one-half hours of discussion.
The project, which includes a sleek 116-room hotel designed by architect Kobi Karp and a 66-space mechanical parking garage, now will go before the Miami Beach Design Review Board.
The 6-1 vote came after board members heard from more than a dozen residents from different neighborhood associations who expressed concerns the hotel would add to traffic woes on 17th Street between Alton Road and Belle Isle.
They also heard from supporters of the project, who said an extended stay hotel in the residential part of Miami Beach would add convenient lodging for family and friends of Miami Beach residents.
The property is bounded by 17th Street, the Collins Canal, the path of the planned West Avenue Bridge and a parking lot that serves Boston Market and a retail and apartment building at the corner of 17th Street and Alton Road.
Rendering of proposed Marriott hotel
Board members praised the design of the hotel project, proposed to be built on land under contract to be purchased for $5 million from the Miami Beach Housing Authority by the Finvarb Group.
Finvarb owns several Marriott properties, including the Courtyard on Washington Avenue.
But most of the debate involved impact on 17th Street traffic from the project.
Henry Stolar, the only board member who voted against the project, did so after asking for the vote to be postponed so the development team and city staff could do more work on the 17th Street issues.
“I can’t imagine a better case for doing the right thing than giving this another month….otherwise we are in a position of just getting this done. I do not like haste in deciding something that has taken seven months while a political process takes its course.”
Board chairman Charles Urstadt said the decision was difficult because he believed the project is a good one, but the concerns about traffic were legitimate.
“We are here to balance the greater good to the public with the rights of the property owner.” he said. “We can’t force this to become a park, we have certain limits on what we can do.”
To try and address traffic, board members asked for a slim median on 17th Street to keep eastbound traffic on 17th Street from attempting left turns into the property, and a requirement that a fourth valet be added during peak business hours at the hotel to prevent cars from backing up from the hotel entrance into the street.
Developer Ron Finvarb told board members the hotel would be something the city will be proud of. “This will be a Residence Inn by Marriott. It must adhere to very high standards,” Finvarb said.
“It will not have any accessory uses that will create additional impact or noise…. With all of the conditions we have offered…the hotel will only benefit the neighborhood. This will not be a party hotel. It will be a state of the art hotel with great design and service.”
Posted in City Issues, Development, Traffic
Tagged 17th Street, 17th Street hotel, Finvarb, Marriott, miami beach, Planning Board, REsidence Inn
Miami Beach News
