What problems? Miami-Dade spending millions more on third-world MIA

Neon green liquid leaking at airport was A/C fluid

What the $%^# was that fluorescent green liquid that dripped from the ceiling at Miami International Airport on the 4th of July?

Some A/C coolant leaking from a pipe that Miami-Dade Aviation says is dyed green so they can trace it back to the source. The county said in a tweet that it was fixed within 90 minutes of being reported. That didn’t stop the OnlyInDade social media platform from posting a video that went viral and was covered in national media, including People.

But this bright green ooze is just the latest in a long series of very visible problems at the airport, which is the Gateway to the Americas and every year breaks the previous year’s record for passenger and cargo traffic, with more than 55 million passengers going in and out in 2022 and 190,000 passengers and employees going through it daily, according to the county.

The county is taking steps to fix the issues (too little, too late?), which includes the modernization of up to 312 elevators, 206 escalators, 98 people moving walkways, 203 public bathrooms and 126 passenger loading bridges. One county aviation spokeswoman said an elevator can take six to eight months to repair because “many parts are inexistent.” An escalator has about 12,000 moving parts.

At the same time, however, Miami-Dade is also spending millions on other projects. In January, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced an unprecedented investment of $7 billion in capital improvements and $1.7 billion in maintenance upgrades. The “historic investment in deferred maintenance projects include:

$130 million to re-roof with solar panels
$681 million for the modernization of conveyance systems
$234 million for passenger loading bridges
$101 million for bathroom renovations
$547 million for electrical infrastructure upgrades

She also said that the Concourse D Skytrain people mover — which was shut down for safety reasons last September — would return to service in March.

But it hasn’t returned to full service. Built 25 years ago, the Skytrain is moving people between Stations 2 and 4. But there is no service to or from Station 1. And county aviation officials say that they hope it will be operational by November. November!

Skytrain was taken out of service after a bi-annual regulatory inspection determined that “cracks to three of the system’s 100 concrete pier caps near its Station 1 had gone from minor to substantial” since the last inspection in 2021. “In an overabundance of caution for public safety, the entire system was taken out of service for additional inspection.” Estimated cost of all repairs is $4.2 million.

The plan to upgrade elevators, escalators, and moving walkways was escalated after commissioners in December of last year approved more than $99 million in contracts to modernize 64 of the aged units. “Combined with a $582 million contract the BCC approved last July, the Plan is now fully funded to replace or renovate conveyance units at MIA in need of an upgrade,” says a January post on the county’s website, when 53 of 616 conveyance units were out of service, “which is only 9%.”

Only.

Commissioners get a monthly aviation capital progress report and this month’s, which is presented at Wednesday’s Miami-Dade Airport and Economic Development Committee, shows there are currently four projects under the county’s “acceleration ordinance” — which means they are fast tracked — worth a total of $57.9 million.

There are also 190 items listed on a spreadsheet called the Miami-Dade Aviation Department Facilities Development Capital Improvement Project Schedule. But that was as of the latest update, in April.

So, $58 million here, $99 million there, $582 million somewhere else. Why does it look like we’re just throwing money at it?

The county is also poised to make a recommendation on a $270-million South Terminal redevelopment project any day now — even without going through a required second tier review. A selection committee of employees decided a second pass wasn’t necessary — even though one member admitted he didn’t actually read the materials submitted.

This skipping a second tier review apparently happens often. Is that why the airport is falling apart?

Maybe we ought to fix what we have first and make sure that there’s no green ooze dripping from the ceiling before we spend another million?

Daniella Levine Cava, Miami International Airport

What problems? Miami-Dade spending millions more on third-world MIA added by Ladra on July 8, 2024
View all posts by Ladra →