The long-debated and controversial 836 extension known as the Kendall Parkway was given final approval 9-4 by the Miami-Dade Commission on Thursday, despite so many warnings, questions and concerns.
That doesn’t mean it’s a done deal, however, and not because 
it still needs state and federal approval that is hopefully not as purchased as county nods. Lawsuits are threatened and Sen. Marco Rubio, of all people, vows to fight the project because the MDX doesn’t want to buy more land for the Everglades restoration project than it needs to build a 13-mile, six-lane expressway through protected wetlands.
There are so many reasons why this should not happen.
Read related: Kendall Parkway to nowhere is an intentional slippery slope for UDB
Commissioners were warned that studies show new highways like the Kendall Parkway do not alleviate traffic but only cause more congestion long term. There were unanswered questions about the plan, incomplete information about even the precise route, of which there were at least four. And there are myriad concerns about how this will impact the environment, the Everglades restoration plan and promote future development and sprawl.
It didn’t matter. One could tell it didn’t matter as people pleaded for them to take a step back and wait. Transit advocates even presented options that were less costly and wouldn’t endanger our environment and our wat
er table. In the end, our commissioners voted with the builders and the contractors that pad their campaign accounts and with the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority, which would manage the $650-million to $1 billion project (read: award bids and dole out the funds).
Of course there were some West Kendall residents for it. They are desperate for any relief that they can see on the horizon from a county government that not only forgets about them but also breaks its promises and steals their half-penny tax dollars to fund mediocre bus service and limited MetroRail.
Read related: MDX spent $400K on PR, including $60K for mayor’s daughter-in-law
But nobody explained to these people that if that money were invested in the SMART plan transit solutions, in light rail 
and rapid bus throughout Miami-Dade in the right places then there would be no need for the Kendall Parkway because there would be fewer cars on the road. Nobody explained to them that there are less costly and better alternatives within the UDB that would not promote future development west over what was once protected wetlands.
They think they have no choice. And they do. Or they did.
Because now that the Kendall Parkway is approved, Gimenez and his pocket commissioners, principally Chairman Esteban Bovo, will fall on this “laurel” and do absolutely nothing else for transit. They don’t have to. They did this.
And while most of the commissioners who voted in favor of this were just re-elected — too bad this highway vote didn’t come before the August election — people should remember that.
They did this.
No-brainer Miami-Dade commission approves Kendall Parkway despite so much added by Ladra on
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