Yesterday I attended a meeting between the MiMo Biscayne Association and 5 officials from the FDOT to discuss adding a median to Biscayne Boulevard from NE 69th Street to NE 77th Street in order to calm traffic and make this road more business and pedestrian friendly. The meeting was frustrating to say the very least.
The FDOT gave about a half dozen reasons why they could not add a median to calm traffic in the MiMo Historic District. The main reasons given were that medians would add traffic to the residential neighborhood of Palm Grove and that it would limit vehicular access to businesses along Biscayne Boulevard.
I realized very quickly that the FDOT wasn’t going too add a median to Biscayne Boulevard so I changed my approach.
When I asked them to reduce the design speed from 40mph to 30 mph I was told that reducing the design speed would not improve safety along Biscayne Boulevard.
When I asked them whether they thought that 14 documented crashes in a two-year period within a 30 block stretch was an acceptable safety standard I was told that safety was subjective and a matter of perception.
Realizing that I was getting nowhere quick, I made one simple request.
Could we please have crosswalks at every intersection?
I was told that there isn’t enough “demand” from pedestrians to warrant any new crosswalks and we should all be elated that we now have three new mid-block crosswalks with flashing lights.
At that point, I walked out of the meeting. The message from the FDOT was very clear:
“Screw you and your fellow pedestrians and be happy you got three additional crosswalks, because we aren’t going to do a single thing to make Biscayne Boulevard safer for anyone; what you have is what you get.”
Disgusted? Please send the FDOT District 6 Secretary Gus Pego, City Commissioner Mark Sarnoff and County Commissioner Audrey Edmonson an email by clicking here.
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Thanks for the reporting, Felipe. It’s upsetting but … are we missing something?
Why is FDOT so reticent about implementing the most basic changes to improve quality of life? Do they have valid arguments, such as protecting neighborhood streets, in the case the traffic density builds? when people cut through side streets to avoid traffic and lights?
Or is FDOT afraid of losing budgeting power? They’re mandated to build roads, I guess, not sidewalks or crosswalks. Or are they beholden to unbeknownst lobbyists? Gotta protect the automobile racket. Or are they just lazy? Not wanting to deal with those “urban” activists? You know the weirdos on florescent bikes?
Maybe if we understood how the FDOT works, we can get better results for our communities.
Consider contacting the “Department of DIY”