During Monday’s Miami Springs City Council Meeting, the City Council voted to pass a resolution expressing formal municipal support for the Florida Department of Transportation’s (FDOT) Alternative 5-B design for the re-engineering of the notorious “Iron Triangle” bottleneck (the intersection of NW 36th Street, LeJeune Road, and Okeechobee Road).
While the project will dramatically improve transit capacity and ease gridlock on State Road 112 and the airport corridor through grade-separated elevated flyovers, local community advocates and council members raised notable local concerns:
- Loss of Business Access on NW 36th Street: The installation of a continuous concrete central median barrier along NW 36th Street will permanently eliminate direct left-turn access for eastbound drivers. To visit local spots like the EB Hotel, Pollo Tropical, and Burger King, drivers will be forced to detour to the main intersection at NW 42nd Avenue or navigate U-turns farther east.
- The “Springs Shortcut” Threat: Tons of drivers get off the 112 onto NW 36th only to make a right hand turn at LeJeune Road to head to Hialeah. We expect that will continue to happen only that the right hand turn won’t occur at LeJeune Road. It’ll occur on East Drive and related arterial roads. In other words, we expect the 112 expansion will funnel more traffic into the residential sections of Miami Springs.
On the positive side of things, the State Road 112 expansion would bypass the intersection at South Royal Poinciana Boulevard and NW 36th Street and the intersection at LeJeune Road and NW 36th Street. This will ideally make it faster for local residents to get home by bypassing two traffic lights and sometimes multiple light cycles. This is a good thing.
Furthermore, Mayor Walter Fajet explained that this proposal would also increase the width of the sidewalks along NW 36th Street in the area of the EB Hotel and Pollo Tropical. Increasing the sidewalks along this corridor is desirable and a positive improvement for our community.
The resolution in support of this project passed by a vote of 4-1.
- Jorge Santin – YES
- Joseph Dion – NO
- Orlando Lamas – YES
- Fabian Perez-Crespo – YES
- Walter Fajet – YES
What do you think? Will this be a net positive or a net negative for our community? Share your thoughts in the comments section at the bottom of this page or via social media.
