The new Westward Bike Path has kept looking better with new sod, new trees, and new plants. Residents are ignoring the temporary “sidewalk closed” signs and have started to use it. Some jogging, some cycling, others walking their dogs, or taking a baby for a stroll. It’s a nice path that adds to our way of life.
But while the project has kept looking better, a storm of complaints started to erupt on social media once the street signs started popping up. There are now 12 new signs at each intersection. And that’s just counting what’s on the median. I didn’t count any new signs near the outside lanes of Westward.
Here are the new signs at each intersection’s median:
- (2) No pedestrians allowed / Bike Lane signs
- (2) Stop signs
- (4) Cross walk signs
- (2) Bike crossing signs
- (2) No motor vehicles allowed signs
Again, overall the project is coming out great, and we think it’s going to be great for the community. But the signs are a mess and tarnish the look of a generally good project.
NO PEDESTRIANS?
The “No Pedestrians” sign is the worst sign of them all. The City of Miami Springs has not passed an ordinance preventing residents from walking on the path. It is not illegal to use. The Miami Springs Police Department will NOT ticket residents walking or jogging along the path. In fact, most people using it right now have been pedestrians.
Does every sidewalk now need a No Motor Vehicles sign, too? Does every intersection need a crosswalk sign? We have crosswalks in the commercial area of Westward that do not have crosswalk signs without a problem for decades. Leave the crosswalk signs by the rec center where kids cross from the rec center to Prince Field, but you don’t need them every single block. It’s a huge eye sore.
HOPE
I wrote to the City of Miami Springs city manager, William Alonso, on Friday, December 8th to discuss the sign pollution issue. He has always been very responsive and here’s what he had to say about the signs:
“We are working with the Engineers and FDOT to see how we can reduce the signage. The plans for this project required this signage for liability and safety reasons, but I agree they went a little overboard. We should have a response from them in next few days. We are also requesting that they approve removal of the no pedestrian signs, this sign is due to the fact that this project was approved as a “bike path” a few years ago. We are hopeful they will be flexible since we know pedestrian traffic will probably outnumber bike traffic.”
We are rooting for Mr. Alonso’s success in correcting a blemish in an otherwise very nice project for Miami Springs residents to enjoy for years to come.
Below, you’ll see how nice the median looks without the sign pollution. Hopefully, this is not the last time we see it this way.
