When are these people going to learn that a “predict and provide” approach to building highways is both counter-productive and unsustainable? It’s been addressed over and over and over again by researchers that widening highways such as the Turnpike, especially at its current capacity, does little but induce more driving demand while simultaneously justifying the auto-dependent sprawl it serves.
Lest we forget that such a project also takes years to finish and usually costs hundreds-of-millions of dollars — money that could be much better spent on transit improvements and maintenance of existing roadway facilities. Such policy is even more appalling within the context of climate change (especially with South Florida’s geography) and a threatened Everlgades ecosystem.
So, I encourage anyone who would like attend the open house tomorrow to go and voice your displeasure with any plan that will widen the Turnpike. Even better if you bring with you the studies I hyperlinked above to support your claims. Let these planners know that South Floridians are tired of wasting hundreds of millions of dollars on futile roadway projects that justify sprawl, do nothing to improve quality of life for Miami-Dade residents, and continue to leave commuters with little alternative to driving. Tell them you want to see sustainable alternatives that are transit-based.
The meeting information:
Thursday, September 27
5:30-7:30pm
Florida Dept. of Transportation District Six Auditorium
1000 NW 111th Ave, Miami
Hallelujah brother
… of course “sprawl” helps lower property prices, as people find they can reasonably commute from farther away. so no new highways condemns people to high home prices, or pushes the poor to find other places to live, since those otherwise-commuters bid up their homes. guess your opinion on that might depend on your opinion of the poor…
- papi
Yeah, I guess your definition of poor requires that one bear the expense of owning a car. That’s too bad, because for working families with household incomes in the $20,000-$50,000 range, it requires an average of about 30% of their household income to pay for transportation costs. This is higher than the national metropolitan average of 28% of HH income spent on housing. In the Miami MSA, these same working families spend about 28% of their income on transportation and 31% on housing. Moreover, in an auto-centric transportation environment, they are at the mercy of increasing gas prices, with little or no alternative to get around efficiently. And just by looking at suburban Miami’s socioeconomic breakdown, it’s obvious that a majority of households are not poor. Nor are the majority of city residents wealthy, so how do you explain your theory that sprawl makes housing more affordable?
I recommend that you check out the incredibly expansive pieces of research and literature that have addressed the high social, economic, and environmental costs of sprawl.
Was planning on going to the meeting so I could voice my opinion on the improvement of mass transit rather than the addition of more highway. I’m coming from downtown Miami. When I saw where the meeting was and at what time…had no choice but to surrender. Why the heck don’t they make these meetings more accessible for people. Come on…fight the rush all the way West on 836 at 6PM? If someone can help me figure out a better way out west during quitting time the next time I’ll be there.
Cindy,
How ironic, right? The way the current system is designed, it’s even difficult for people to GET TO THE OPEN HOUSE in order to advocate for change. I hope this doesn’t deter your enthusiasm for getting involved!