Just in time for the 47-acre Upland Park transit-oriented, mixed use project that is expected to transform the Dolphin Park-and-Ride terminal into a major multimodal transit hub, the city of Doral is looking to update its transit plan, which could also include changes and/or additions to its trolley service.
Residents can hear about the transit plan goals and proposed improvements to the trolley service at a workshop from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday on the first floor of City Hall, 8401 NW 53rd Terrace. They can also learn about the county’s Better Bus Network — which many say is not necessarily better (more on that later) — and provide feedback on the city’s trolley service.
Traffic is already bad in Doral, and it is expected to get worse.
Developer Terr
a broke ground last month on the first phase of Upland Park, which will include more than 2,000 mid-rise and garden-style apartments, 282,000 square feet of retail and 414,000 square feet of commercial space.
Upland Park is designed to increase public transit ridership “while anchoring the new East-West Corridor of the county’s Smart public transportation plan,” according to a press release from the developer, who billed it as “the largest public-private transit-oriented development” in the history of Miami-Dade County.
“Through public-private partnerships, we are accelerating smart solutions by adding new transit-oriented communities along major transit corridors,” Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said in a statement.
“These developments provide public transportation connections to employment centers, schools, arts and culture, and healthcare, making it easier for residents to access essential services and opportunities. Upland Park is a prime example of how we are continuing to build a better community for all and a future-ready Miami-Dade County,” Levine Cava said. “Located alongside the 836 Expressway, which features a dedicated bus lane, this development will provide residents with seamless and efficient transit options, further integrating smart mobility solutions into our growing region.”
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Said District 12 Commissioner Juan Carlos “JC” Bermudez, the former mayor of Doral: “Upland Park is a significant step forward in ensuring that residents of West Dade, have greater access to transit, jobs, and essential services.”
In 2016, the then-city council approved two inter-local agreements between Doral and the Miami-Dade Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) providing up to $90,000 in grant funding to study the expansion of Doral trolley service to Florida International University and the conversion of certain streets into one-way traffic corridors to increase circulation capacity.
The trolley expansion back then was an initiative by current Doral Mayor Christi Fraga, who was vice mayor at time.
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Trolley systems are not fixed route bus systems. They’re supposed to be connecting routes , to conventional public transportation systems . One of their advantages, is they’re free to ride . All seniors aren’t physically handicapped , and are able to walk a couple of blocks , to sit at a trolley stop. Since they’re probably in retirement, or should be, they can choose the hours to do their errands, and avoid insufferable discomfort. Walled communities , which supposedly have less careless vehicular traffic , could encourage their HOAs to facilitate Golf Cart lifts to their residents, who are trying to reach one of these trolley points . The residents HOA fees can stretch to cover this very small cost to responsibly make the development more liveable.
Gustavo ,
I know you will find this ridiculous but I would like to see golf karts allowed BUT in their own lane which yes would mean widening streets and of course not highway .
It can be limited hours from 8 am to 6 pm .
Trolley is not consistent , not reliable and older people can not walk blocks in the heat to wait for it for some 1/2 a mile .
Plenty of older people in Miami who can not drive are screwed and even Uber is costing them a fortune .
The free transportation for them is an unreliable disaster and I know as few people in my community tell me , I have driven them to local area places since know them like them and God forbid their own kids they put through College bother with them .
Elderly people and disabled people in Miami are ignored this was one of the first things I noticed moving here , a society like this is rancid .
I understand your point but I feel with golf karts at least locally many of them can get around , food shopping , etc .
Gustavo, like Metro-rail & Metro-mover , once denoted as being the equivalence of handing a Cadillac to each of it’s users, trolleys are an important building block of Miami-Dade’s Public transit system. They take a little time to be embraced by the neighbors and other riders, but they’re going in the right direction, and their routes can be adjusted.A large number of users of public transit riders , find it economically necessary, since the cost of an extra automobile is equivalent to a large part of a minimum wage entry level salary. Anther large number of riders, are otherwise entitled to government benefits or assistance, e,g, students, seniors and the ill .
There Is NOT a” Better Bus Network ” Unless You Build Better and Wider Road : Trolleys are Tax Wasters from The 1/2 Cent tax . Regulate Uber , Lyft and Others (50,000 idiots driving w/ GPS ,Make Roads For Vehicles Not Scooters , Bikes,Motorinas, Motorcycles , We are NOT HANOI ?
We were para-transit drivers, brought into the MDC Public Transit System by the incipient Kendall KAT. We drove one route , we surmise it was the Hialeah route, which had a terminus point , at the Superb Dolphin Mall. We visited, not long ago , and it has matured exquisitely. Trolleys are excellent means to serve residential areas, for the important reason that we’re all aging, and it comes with reduced mobility , supplemented in many ways by a trolley system .