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Roadwork Irks Owners: Florida Department of Transportation Officials Are in the Beginning Phases of Transforming a Street Graded 'F' By Engineers. Residents Did Not Come to The

Posted on: Monday, 27 February 2006, 12:01 CST

By Ani Martinez, The Miami Herald

Feb. 26--Transportation officials are looking to widen Southwest 107th Avenue between Eighth and Flagler streets from four to six lanes.

Although construction will not start for another five years, business owners voiced opposition to the project at a meeting Thursday at Sweetwater City Hall.

The Florida Department of Transportation would need at least 17 1/2 feet to add one lane northbound and another southbound to alleviate traffic congestion.

That is one too many feet for Jesus Alvarez, who owns two commercial properties on Southwest 107th Avenue.

"If they need land to build the extra lanes, they are going to take it from us, the business owners," Alvarez said. "Our businesses are going to suffer, and they just don't get that."

Other road works could include shrinking the sidewalk and the median, and a bike lane may not be recommended.

But it is too soon to say how much land FDOT will need because the project is not fully funded.

Alternatives cannot be determined until planners take logistics and costs into account.

"Eventually, we will get the funding because the city of Sweetwater requested this improvement in a letter," said Julio Boucle, an engineer for the project. "This is the bottle neck of the community."

Traffic information from the Miami-Dade County Metropolitan Planning Organization supports Boucle's bottle-neck theory. The half-mile corridor was graded "F" because more cars use the road than it was designed for: 42,000 cars crossed the corridor each day in 2004, and planners estimate the number will rise to 56,500 by 2025.

Boucle predicted the project would run "smoothly."

But there was nothing smooth about the meeting.

After hearing an explanation of the project, business owners and property investors wanted nothing to do with it.

Others are willing to work with project manager Andre Goins and other engineers by joining the Citizen's Advisory Committee. The group will serve as the liaison between FDOT and residents and investors.

"We can't sell our properties so we are stuck," said business owner Carlos Acosta, who joined the committee. "You have to figure that if you can't win with them you need to get in with them."

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Miami Herald

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Source: The Miami Herald

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