At the last City Council Meeting, Council Member Santin requested discussion over Pedestrian Safety around the Circle. He was seeking recommendations from the city staff to provide better connectivity to Glenn Curtiss Circle Park.
Two years ago, we wrote a story with 15 ways to improve access to the Circle. You can read that article below. Nevertheless, we were encouraged about the idea of adding more crosswalks to the Circle. Councilman Santin suggested the addition of elevated crosswalks. Think of it as a cross walk and speed hump combination. This has a double benefit of slowing down traffic and providing a safe walking path to the Circle.
We all know that when the County added the crosswalk that connected the Curtiss Parkway bike path to the Circle, it connected the least used portion by pedestrians. The most common area that people use is from the Starbucks and Burritoville area or the north side of the Circle to the Circle itself. Yet, we still don’t have a safe path for pedestrians to access the Circle from the Starbucks and Burritoville area.
Councilman Vazquez agreed with Santin to improve safety and pedestrian access to the Circle.
Councilman Fajet had a different perspective. He was concerned about the increased traffic that will be coming to the Circle after the Springs Town Center comes online. He wanted to wait until the Town Center was online before making changes to it. “I would caution us to wait and see…”
Miami Springs resident Rogelio Madan spoke up about the topic. He said “We either have a highway or a main street…Right now it’s designed as a highway. It’s designed to go fast. This needs to be our main street…They need to drive slowly…It needs to be redesigned…Force cars to slow down a little bit…Create tabled crosswalks…Pedestrian safety is paramount.”
It’s no secret we agree with adding safe pedestrian access to the Circle. People cross to the Circle illegally every single day. There’s demand to access the parks by kids, parents, seniors, etc. People enjoy the Circle. And when the apartments come online, it will only create more demand to access the green space from the Burritoville and Starbucks area.
Councilman Santin added, “One person. You save one kid’s life…one person’s life…it’s enough…I’m willing to fight it.”
Councilwoman Bravo added, “I agree that we should go ahead and look at more pedestrian friendly around the Circle.”
Ultimately, the City Council directed the City Manager to talk to County Commissioner Cabrera to discuss more pedestrian access to the Circle. For the record, the Circle and Curtiss Parkway are part of a county road controlled by Miami-Dade County. So any changes to the road, crosswalks, and pedestrian safety are managed by the county.
While we are encouraged by our local officials attempts to improve the Circle, we really need the county to be as invested in the pedestrian benefit. That means budget allocation. That means funding. That means planning.
Let’s see if County Commissioner does something good for Miami Springs. I haven’t seen it yet.
What do you think? Should we add more pedestrian access to the Circle? What do you think of adding elevated cross walks that act as both speed humps and safe crossing point?
Let us know in the comments section below or via social media.
