A few weeks ago I wrote an article about the lack of initiative the CPWD showed during a recent resurfacing project on South Miami Avenue from SW 14th Street to SE 13th Street. After the CPWD finished resurfacing the intersection on SW14th Street they only replaced the one and only existing crosswalk instead of painting all 4 crosswalks at this intersection. County Public Works Department Director Esther Calas responded to Transit Miami:
The Miami-Dade Public Works Department (PWD) had an ongoing drainage, milling and resurfacing and striping and signage project on South Miami Avenue, which was interrupted at the request of the neighborhood merchants with the City’s concurrence due to the Florida Department of Transportation reconstructing Brickell Avenue North of SE 15 Road. Although both projects had non-overlapping maintenance of traffic vehicular routing, the merchants were concerned with the combined traffic impacts.
When we halted our drainage project, only one block was completed, between S 13 Street/Coral Way and S 14 Street. The project began on that block because it had the worst roadway drainage conditions. As a part of work stoppage, the contractor only replaced the single crosswalk at 14 Street that was originally present. The City has offered to continue the drainage work on Miami Avenue in coordination with their drainage project for the intersecting neighborhood streets.
We agree that additional crosswalks will improve Miami Avenue. Therefore, in the interim before drainage work is reinitiated on Miami Avenue, we will resume our effort to stripe crosswalks, stopbars, bicycle lanes and shared use “Sharrow” markings along this corridor between S 15 Road and S 6 Street without further delay.
We appreciate your bringing these concerns to our attention.
We are happy to report that the CPWD not only painted three additional crosswalks at the South Miami Avenue and SW14 Street intersection, but also in the process added bike lanes on South Miami Avenue from SW 13th Street up to SW 15th Street. The CPWD has also taken the extra step to add crosswalks at other intersections on South Miami Avenue. Needless to say we are extremely pleased, but there is still room for improvement. Please see the below photographs for our praise, critiques and suggestions for improvement.
Sweet!
Awesome!
Kick Ass!
Nice bike lane!
The SW 12th Street/SE1st Avenue/ South Miami Avenue intersection a complete clusterfuck (Pardon my French). Serious attention needs to be given here.
New zebra crosswak on SW 12th Street South Miami Avenue. I love zebra crosswalks. Every crosswalk in the urban core should be a zebra crosswalk.
The SW 12th Street/SE1st Avenue/ South Miami Avenue intersection gets a new zebra crosswalk. Did I mention how much I love zebra crosswalks?
The boys at the CPWD hard at work. Thank you gentlemen!
SE 11th Street and S. Miami Avenue. Not sure if CPWD is finished here, but this intersection must have four crosswalks. Let's give the CPWD the benefit of the doubt.
SE 11th Street and S. Miami Avenue. The new stop bar must extend the entire width of SE 11th Street. A second stop sign must also go up. The manager at Rosinella told me today that he has been managing this restaurant since 1998 and sees on average 5 accidents per year at this intersection. More must bee done to calm traffic on South Miami Avenue. Too many idiots speed down S. Miami Avenue on this stretch. Enforcement isn't the solution. We must design a complete street that discourages speeding.
SE 10th Avenue and S. Miami Ave. Looks like the CPWD is putting zebra crosswalks here too. I think the rain stopped them from finishing the job.
Mary Brickell Village. Is a raised mid-block zebra crosswalk to much to ask for? Probably. We can only dream.
SW 9th and S. Miami Ave. Hopefully the CPWD will put zebra crosswalks here as well. Please give them the benefit of the doubt, I don't think they're done yet!
Well done Ms. Calas and CPWD! Your department singly handedly just made the Brickell area safer for those of us that walk and bike in the area. Let’s make it even safer!
You can find the Bicycle/Pedestrian Mobility Plan For the Miami Downtown Development Authority Area here: http://bit.ly/rsVYEb. There are plenty of great ideas in this document. The Miami DDA has also developed a streetscape plan for South Miami Avenue. You can find the study here:http://www.miamidda.com/pdf/South%20Miami%20Avenue%20Master%20Plan%20FINAL%209-17-10.pdf
Please send Esther Calas, Director of the County Public Works Department, an email thanking her and her department for their effort thus far. (ecalas@miamidade.gov).
6 Responses to County Public Works Department Brings Their A-Game to South Miami Avenue; There is Still Room for Improvement
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I also noticed they patched some crumbling pavement across from Rosinella as well. ‘Milo’ promptly fingered his name into some of the wet concrete but otherwise it was decent work. I don’t think they are done with South Miami Ave either as some of the bike lanes are marked but not completely painted. Good reporting, Felipe. No doubt this lead to the expedition of this project.
Craig
I couldn’t help but notice that one of the curb ramps at 14th St pictured above is at a 90 degree angle to the street, not 45 degrees as it should be.
Is this real life?! They actually listened. I’m pleasantly surprised. I wish all government departments were this efficient. For this I must give a huge thank you to TM and the county Public Works Dept, THANK YOU! You just made my neighborhood 100x safer, thanks!
Great post, guys. The DDA has been working closely with both the County and City to improve the walkability and bikability of the Brickell village area on and around S. Miami Avenue. You referenced our Bike/Ped Mobility Plan, but you may also want to take a look at our South Miami Avenue Streetscape Plan at http://www.miamidda.com/pdf/South%20Miami%20Avenue%20Master%20Plan%20FINAL%209-17-10.pdf
We were able to get the County to place it in their 5yr capital improvement program with partial funding, and the Brickell CitiCentre project has incorporated the Plan’s recommendations into their design, so we’re well on our way to a Ped and Bike friendly South Miami Avenue. Keep up the good work; your continued advocacy is helpful to our efforts.
Thanks Javier. I’ve included the link to the South Miami Avenue Streetscape Plan in the post. Hopefully we can get the FDOT to drink the kool-aid too. Sigh.
Unrelated to this post, but thought I should bring attention to this subject which has been discussed at length in this website
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/09/01/2386203/gated-communities-no-bar-to-burglars.html