Miami-Dade County is seeking public input on its plan to reduce traffic along six major travel routes into and out of downtown Miami.
The county Transportation Planning Office is hosting a series of public discussions focused on each corridor. Currently the focus is on the South Corridor, which would run from along U.S. 1 to Florida City. There's a discussion scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Evelyn Greer Park Meeting Room, 8200 SW 124th St., in Pinecrest. A second one is scheduled for 6 p.m. Dec. 14 at the Florida City Youth Activity Center, 650 NW 5th Ave. in Florida City.
Discussions have already taken place for the Kendall Corridor along Kendall Drive, and the North Corridor, along Northwest 27th Avenue from the Martin Luther King, Jr. Metrorail Station to Northwest 215th Street.
Public discussion for the East-West Corridor, which would run along the Dolphin Expressway, will take place starting in January, according to a spokeswoman for the TPO. Sessions for the Beach Corridor, along the MacArthur Causeway, and the Northeast Corridor, along railroad tracks into Aventura, are slated for February.
(The county's full description of the corridors is here: http://online.fliphtml5.com/tglt/sxan/#p=6.)
Initially the plan was to build light rail along all six routes, but county Mayor Carlos Gimenez now says for all but the Northeast Corridor, rapid transit buses that get automatic green lights are the more affordable, quicker-to-implement solution.
Read more: On Miami-Dade Transit Plan, What Does Mayor Gimenez Mean By 'Buses'?
County documents show the buses would cost about $534 million to implement, versus an estimated $3.3 billion for the proposed light rail.
Red lines indicate the six corridors targeted by Miami-Dade County's SMART Plan.
Credit Miami-Dade County
