Man, did newly appointed commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins step in it last week. Deep in it.
It’s not so much that she renewed a proposal to build a super controversial bridge over a canal on 87th Avenue connecting 164th Street with 163rd Terrace — and Cutler Bay with Palmetto Bay — just a few weeks after she was sworn into office on a wing and a prayer. It’s how she renewed it.
Hurriedly and dramatically, without the proper public notice, like she’s trying to rush it through, disguised as a countywide “connectivity” policy for better traffic engineering.
Yeah, right.
Appointed in December to replace newly elected Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, Cohen Higgins used the COVID19 emergency, which allowed her to circumvent the appropriate public notice, to get an item on the agenda that has nothing to do with the pandemic. And, after a lofty, righteous speech about equity that has nothing to do with the bridge, she got her colleagues to approve a resolution that takes the $3.1 million project to the Transportation Planning Organization in late February.
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The quick blowback has caused her to change that TPO meeting to March. It would come back to the commission on second reading after that.
¿Pero que QUE? Palmetto Bay residents who have been against the bridge — a perceived threat to their quality of life through increased traffic — since at least 2003 and, some say, as long as 40 years, did a double take. When did that bridge to nowhere come up again? It was a surprise to everyone and lots of residents feel like they’ve been ignored or sandbagged on what is, arguably, the biggest issue for an entire village.
It was shocking enough to get Palmetto Bay Mayor Karyn Cunningham to call a special meeting Monday night where the village council passed three resolutions: One opposes the county commission vote, one asks the county commission to reconsider and postpone item until after March, and one added at the last minute that instructs Village Attorney John Dellagloria to put the county on notice that it could end up in court.
They should just pressure Mayor Danielle Levine Cava, who represented this district before she became La Alcaldesa and still has a couple of days to veto this, as she should, just because it was not properly noticed.
But, first, they heard more than 100 comments from residents who are overwhelmingly against the idea, by more than 3 to 1. They repeatedly reminded everyone that Cohen Higgins is their “unelected” county representative and called the move “political trickery.” Ladra counted at least 67 against and 19 for. I may have missed a few over the four and a half hour meeting.
Increased traffic, the changing vehicular patterns due to COVID, decreasing property values, and the safety of children, pedestrians and pets were the leading arguments for the anti group. They also contend that the real solutions are in mass transit, not bridges.
Current traffic north of 164th, more ease for first responders and getting out of the driveway in less than 20 minutes were the arguments used by the pro group. “Effective mass transportation could take years and maybe a decade or more,” said Jeffrey Rubins.
Each side — geographically located north and south of the canal — pleaded for consideration from the other.
“I’d like to challenge the folk who support the bridges to think about the people who live on the street that the bridges would impact,” said Betsy Stevenson. “It’s basically direct impact versus impact that isn’t direct.
“We all feel it. We feel traffic. But the people who live on [87th Avenue] would be living on the highway.”
Alvaro Pozo turned the table on her and asked people to listen to the studies that say the bridge will improve connectivity to U.S. 1.
“Should we also remember that the burden is being experienced by those of us in District 3? Is that happening today? Is there consideration for that,” Pozo asked, certain that traffic will go back to its pre-COVID levels.
“Is this bridge going to solve every problem in our neighborhood? Absolutely not. But it is a very good part of the solution,” Pozo said. “Are we all neighborly? Can we all take consideration for all of us? Not just 110 residents?”
Jose Lopez, like other critics, said the bridge would only push the bottleneck 20 blocks north to 141st Street, where 87th Avenue ends again. “If the people in South Dade didn’t know how to manage themselves in awarding building contracts… we should not be bearing the cost of someone else’s poor decisions.”
Cohen Higgins, who did not respond to several calls and messages through her cellphone, district office and her staff, did send an olive branch email on Friday to Cunningham and Cutler Bay Mayor Tim Meerbott, who, naturally, is on board with the bridge. Cutler Bay is south of 184th Street.
“During my campaign, I vowed to fight for real traffic solutions for the hardworking residents of South Dade and this is one of them,” she said in the email. “I have always been clear and consistent in my support of this project. I understand that there are varying points of view and it is important that my colleagues on the TPO are presented with both sides of this issue.”
Her idea of getting input is for each mayor to select four residents from each municipality to serve on a newly established “Community Connectivity Committee,” meet four times, virtually for COVID safety — “to engage in substantive, meaningful discussion in a respectful manner” — and submit “position papers” to the TPO members when it comes before them in March.
Cunningham and Meerbott have until Wednesday to provide the eight names to the commissioner’s Chief of Staff Natalia Zea, who did not respond to several emails seeking more information all day Tuesday.
“The CCC will allow our community to come together to speak to each other – not at each other,” Cohen Higgins wrote. “It will allow for the exchange of relevant facts and perspectives, in hopes of educating and reducing disinformation. It will provide a structured forum for the public to be heard.”
Um, the commission chambers on a properly noticed item would have also provided a structured forum.
One South Palmetto Bay resident asked for Cunningham to appoint at least one pro-bridge homeowner to the committee. But opposed residents say that would stack the committee against them since all four of the Cutler Bay residents are likely to be in favor.
Cunningham also questioned the new commissioner’s “efforts to double back and kind of create some kind of community input.” She said she couldn’t see position papers from residents on extreme sides of the issue as community input. But she will provide the four names and said Monday that the first one of those is Village Manager Nick Marano, who was hired in December.
Councilwoman Marsha Matson remembers working with former Miami-Dade Commissioner Katy Sorensen — three commissioners ago — to oppose the bridge. “This is something I campaigned on when I ran two years ago and something that I have opposed for 30 years,” Watson said. “It would completely change Palmetto Bay.”
Ladra would say it already has, pitting neighbor against neighbor in what seems like a completely unbridgeable divide.
Former Councilman David Singer said it has been that way for at least 17 years, since the incorporation of Palmetto Bay and its first vote against the bridge. A survey he did in 2017 showed the community almost evenly split.
He himself is against a single bridge on 87th Avenue, which he says won’t resolve anything. He says there needs to be several bridges so that people have options to get onto an improved U.S. 1. But, he said, the village’s southernmost homeowners have a point and are not getting any love.
“There was no empathy from the council for the residents of District 3. And they really do have serious traffic issues there,” Singer said.
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“Going forward, we need to keep at the forefront that we are neighbors,” said Vice Mayor Leanne Tellam. “I’ve seen this subject divide people and while you can’t always get what you want, at the end we need to respect each other and the democratic process.”
She also said that she would be willing to consider a referendum vote so that the residents can be the ones who decide — which sounds like the best idea so far. But, like others, Watson took “great exception” with the way she learned of the county commissioner’s move.
Cunningham said the timing was wrong.
“During this time of covid people are already stressed out and this just adds more unnecessary stress,” Cunningham said. “One of the biggest pieces for me is this pitting of town against village, neighborhood against neighborhood. That hurts the soul, right?
“I have a great relationship with Mayor Meerbott. This just happens to be one of the items we don’t agree on,” Cunningham said, adding that the village is interested in both a short term and long term plan.
“South Dade has been sorely neglected over the last few years,” she said. “Downtown Miami is becoming less affordable and so, naturally, folks are moving to where housing is more affordable. Unfortunately, the jobs haven’t been built in South Dade yet so you still have people making that daily commute North.”
She and others say there are better options and that the county should be looking at the problem holistically. “Look at the region in its entirety and not just two cities. We really need better solutions that are better fit for South Dade.”
Even if it’s a good idea, the way that Cohen Higgins tried to slip this by has everybody up in arms. One man who identified himself as a service man named Joseph something, sounded downright disgusted.
“The community as a whole should be ashamed of how we got here this evening. When I served overseas, I carried ballots for the Afghan people so their voice can be heard in a fair and balanced election. I was denied that right in this election,” he said abut the appointment of Cohen Higgins, “and on top of that, the first item to be brought is a detriment to the community with no four day notice.
“This project, it will empty traffic into my street. It’s dangerous to my community. I am anti bridge to nowhere. I am anti corrupt politician and I am anti bandaid solutions.”
Todd Levy, who lives on 141st — “literally at the tip of the spear of what will occcur” — thanked whoever put the notice about the meeting in his mailbox.
“It was completely under the radar.”
Not only did Cohen Higgins piss off a lot of her constituents, but commission colleagues — who are also getting some blowback for supporting her on her “district item” — are going to have to revisit this again at the TPO and when it comes back to the full commission.
This public notice controversy won’t go, um, unnoticed in the future.
Danielle Cohen Higgins earns distrust with surprise revisit to 87th Ave bridge added by Ladra on
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There are several valid reasons why a 77th avenue bridge is the best option to alleviate the traffic on both US1 and Old Cuttler Road. South bound traffic exiting the Palmetto expressway and traveling south on US1 creates a huge bottle neck on US1 from 97th street onward. An option to alleviate some of this US1 traffic back-up would be to access 77th avenue, by taking 77th ave at 102 Street. This would require traveling in this bottle-neck only 4 blocks south on US1. Actually, north bound traffic would also benefit, as from 77th avenue to 102nd street to US1 directly places one very near to the entrance of the Palmetto expressway going north. At the other end of 77th avenue, if a bride is built, one would enter 184th Street, thus easy access to Cuttler Bay, as well as accessing Old Cuttler Rd. way south. Consider that to access 87th avenue, traffic has to travel on US1 or Old Cuttler Road until 144 street, this is a much greater distance than accessing at 102 st. Inversely, this 77th avenue path would also assist Cuttler Bay northbound traffic. 87th avenue only goes as far as 144 St. thus leaving a great distance to travel for northbound traffic on both US1 and Old Cuttler Rd. 77th avenue is the correct street to bridge if the true, honest intentions of the bridge is to improve the traffic flow!
Instead of the bridge on 87th avenue, a bridge on 77th avenue would be a better choice. 77th avenue runs from SW 102 street all the way through Pinecrest and into Palmetto Bay. Bridging 77th avenue would lead traffic all the way to 184th street. This option should be considered but it’s hush hush because reportedly, some political officials live in the path of this route. Explore the 77th avenue alternative for a better traffic flow.
Do not let an unelected socialist Commissioner destroy our village with her corrupt plan for this bridge !
I live just south of the canal. I work in Homestead. I know this traffic problem well and, seeing all the new construction every day, know it is likely to get worse.
Start with this plan. District 3 in Palmetto Bay does sometimes feel like the less favored sibling. Cutler Bay has worse traffic than Palmetto Bay. It feels nice to stick it to the bougies north of the canal, especially when they frame this issues as forcing something intolerable on them that we tolerate every day. Still, the Galloway Bridge is a bad plan. Galloway ends at about 146th (right at the Publix shopping center). This plan offers no real solution to this problem— it is in fact likely to make traffic in Palmetto Bay’s residential streets around Galloway worse as traffic backs up and Waze does it’s thing with this new route.
There are several things this report leaves out. The timing is sus, but Mayor Karyn’s non presence is weird. She claims she was blindsided, but that strikes me as bs (does not stand for blindsided). Also, this bridge program was associated with Levine Cava when she was running for mayor. The way this was done seems like classic “tirar la piedra y esconder la mano.” Finally, there is a great big unused highway right along US 1. It’s time to admit that the Busway is a dumb idea. It’s time to rethink how we do public transit. Service across Dade is just awful, Metrorail and buss included. We have one of the most entrepreneurial populations in the world right here in Miami-Dade. Let’s harness that. We’re not preventing global warming by having cars idle in traffic, and we’re not going to nudge commuters into mass transit with a system that could be described as Third World, if that weren’t such a grave insult to the Third World.
And I guess that sums up most of our county’s problems: first-rate people with a third-rate government.
One third of Palmetto Bay or District 3 will benefit from the bridge. A handful of homes and very active resident will see additional traffic. They (then NIMBYs) are trying to keep a county road for their own personal use and remain willing to spend BIG money to make this an issue for all of Palmetto Bay. 1/2 the people on the PB task are so far away they will see zero impact. Build the Bridge to benefit the entire community.
Traffic is already in the area and commuters from cutler bay and homestead already cut through many local streets to avoid the parking lot that was old cutler road pre covid and is starting to become once again.
Development is happening at a furious pace south of palmetto bay and will not stop.
Its foolish to think that mass transit is just around the corner. It is not. It has been a pipe dream for decades and will continue to be so.
Bridging will alleviate traffic in the near term. Residents negatively impacted should receive compensation if that will help move the project forward.
The only residents that will see a large increase in traffic are the handful of houses on the dead ends. The rest of 87th ave is already packed with traffic. Just buy those houses for market price and resell them after bridging. In this market the county wont lose money.
When are we going to ask, why was development allowed to occur to put us in this position?
How can we get smarter development with vision for long term goals?
How can we vote smarter to prevent urban sprawl?