Kionne McGhee pulls the brakes on Miami-Dade BRT for South corridor

He wants to revisit light and heavy rail as an option

True to his word, Miami-Dade Commissioner Kionne McGhee will ask his colleagues to pull the brakes on the $368 million rapid bus transit project along U.S. 1 to Homestead and park it another 60 days to examine other options — such as light and heavy rail.

McGhee says the COVID19 pandemic has “changed the world,” including traffic patterns since the Transportation Planning Organization selected BRT as the “locally preferred alternative” for the South Dade Transitway Corridor more than two years ago. He says the county must take a new look at alternative transit modes to find the best for the South’s growing needs.

He should expect some push back.

After much handwringing — and 2016 campaign promises from then Mayor Carlos Gimenez that more rail was coming — our esteemed leaders on the TPO decided that BRT was the way to go for the South part of the Strategic Miami Area Rapid Transit (SMART) plan. Staff was directed to go in that direction and, maybe, some day, convert BRT to at-grade Metrorail upon reaching an average daily ridership of 35,000. Last May, the project was selected to receive a $100 million construction grant from the U.S Department of Transportation and the Federal Transit Administration.

_{What a stop would look like on the new and improved South Corridor busway.}

On Aug. 31, the other commission — before the November election brought in McGhee and five other newbies — approved a resolution to retroactively authorize the mayor or mayor’s designee to apply for that FTA grant and then three days later, on Sept. 3, it approved the award of the design-build services agreement to OHL USA, Inc., in the totalamount of $368,233,493.42.

Three days. It’s like the definition of railroad.

Part of McGhee’s measure would determine if the federal and state monies earmarked for BRT can be applied to light rail or heavy rail instead. Seems like it should be transferrable, since there’s already a plan to make it Metrorail when the ridership grows.

The people of South Dade and all along the corridor — from the Dadeland South Metrorail Station to the SW 344th Street Park-and-Ride/Transit Terminal, connecting Downtown Miami with Pinecrest, Palmetto Bay, Cutler Bay, Homestead and Florida City — say the county has it backwards: build the ridership with trains that are on time and frequent.

When voters approved the the half-penny tax for the People’s Transportation Plan in 2002, that’s what they were promised: more rail. That’s what we voted for. Don’t believe what the politicians tell ya about it always being about extending transit in one way or another. Nana Nina. Voters thought they were voting to extend the MetroRail.

Instead, the county has squandered the $3 billion collected since then on maintenance and operations of a faulty system — save for the trolley and freebee services it supports in several municipalities with those funds.

McGhee did not answer calls and texts for comment, but he has been consistent on his demand for rail, which he campaigned on last year.

“The Department of Transportation and Public Works claims that new technologies used with Bus Rapid Transit, which essentially amount to intersection-controlling devices, are going to improve traffic conditions,” McGhee wrote in an op-ed piece in The Miami Herald Jan. 31. “This claim mirrors the same song and dance that was presented to the people in 1997.

“But conditions won’t improve, which is why South Dade needs rail — now.”

In other words, why spend years and $368 million to build something that is going to be outdated and obsolete almost as soon as it’s done? Aren’t we just staying behind if we stay with BRT?

“South Dade has made it abundantly clear that what they want and need is rail,” said Jeffrey Mitchell, president of the local Transit Workers Union, who also says he has concerns about the company’s recent downgrading by credit agencies.

“Continuing to pursue the BRT, particularly with a company that has been repeatedly been cited as a high financial risk by leading credit agencies, not only goes against the wishes of residents and businesses, it is financially irresponsible and a slap in the face to Miami-Dade County taxpayers,” Mitchell said. “Our leadership should do right by the community and put forth a proposal that accurately reflects what has been promised for more than 20 years.”

South Dade leaders are also growing frustrated with the excuses.

“We will no longer allow for our community to be disconnected from the rest of the county,” Pastor Alphonso Jackson said. “We will hold our elected officials accountable for their decisions.

“Our communities want economic development and rail will get us there. The current toll prices and bus system in South Dade are reducing our ability to have a quality of life similar to others in this great county.”

Pinecrest Vice Mayor Doug Kraft: “We deserve rail. The people have loudly spoken in action and voice that they want rail. Without rail, we are creating an unequal transportation system that will continue to punish hard-working, good people from South Dade.”

Pastor Kay Dawson says it will bring jobs and opportunities to South Dade. “The economic impact of the rail will help diminish poverty and crime.”

Former Palmetto Bay Vice Mayor John DuBois — who is running next year for the commission seat in District 8 held by appointed Danielle Cohen Higgins now — says a Metrorail extension to Florida City, with feeders like the Palmetto Bay circular buses, is “the only viable” option.

“An upgrade to our existing bus system and naming it Bus Rapid Transit won’t cut it,” he said. “That is just perfuming the pig.”

Cohen Higgins did not return calls and texts to see where she stood.

If McGhee’s colleagues agree, they will vote Wednesday to direct La Alcaldesa Daniella Levine Cava to “not issue the notice to proceed” on the services agreement — does that mean OHL can sue? — and prepare a report to present in April on the feasibility of the other rail options.

“The recommendations from the feasibility study should provide this Board with a plan regarding (1) how to proceed with respect to the existing design-build contract for the South Corridor BRT project, including the financial implications of suspending and/or terminating the contract, and (2) how to implement any recommended alternative transit mode, including the implications of pursuing such alternative transit mode on any state or federal grant that has been awarded, or is expected to be awarded, for the implementation of the South Corridor BRT Small Starts project.”

It’s going to be a divisive debate. The old guard will want to move forward with what they got without further delays. Their “something is better than nothing” excuses mask a desire to say they were the ones who got it done. Some commissioners refer to the SMART plan as their “legacy.”

But the newly-elected commissioners had nada to do with this decision and may want to weigh in.

Anyone who really wants to see rail along this South corridor needs to know that Wednesday might be their last chance for a while, or ever. Of course, you can’t comment virtually any more — which is very convenient for them (more on that later). You’d have to go in person to the meeting at County Hall, 111 NW 1st St., and probably sit there, in the lobby, all day until they get to this. Take a snack. The meeting starts at 9:30 a.m. and can be watched online.

Kionne McGhee, transit

Kionne McGhee pulls the brakes on Miami-Dade BRT for South corridor added by Ladra on February 16, 2021
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