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What West Grove Residents Are Saying About The Trolley Garage

Miami Herald

The city of Coral Gables has a short-term solution to the battle over a trolley garage it has built in West Coconut Grove. The solution is to move the garage to Coral Gables, the community the trolleys serve. The only problem is that the new facility won't be ready for another two to three years. 

Residents in the West Grove aren't too pleased with the solution. 

Williams Armbrister is a community activist fighting against the garage since the project was first announced.

"They're saying, 'Just trust us. We'll bring it here for two or three years and then we'll move it. Trust us.' We don't want it here," says Armbrister.

Another resident, Gladys Williams, lives on the same street as the garage. She believes that they should move the trolleys before the two years because the garage is not currently serving the community.

Sandy Mendez grew up in that community. He didn't expect this outcome when he first saw construction in the area. "At first I wondered what this place was going to be. I though it was going to be a school. Then I heard, it's a garage for buses," says Mendez.

The fate of the garage once the trolleys are removed is yet to be determined. Armbrister hopes that they'll turn it into something that benefits the community. 

"We want the same things in this community that they have on the other side of McDonald's," Armbrister says. "We want development, we want shops, we want something to make this community a place where the tour buses that come by stop and do some shopping. You know, get some Bahamian artifacts or something of that nature."

Hear the residents' thoughts here:

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