Some Thoughtful Response to the FDOT plan for Alton Road Reconstruction

From: Matthew Lambert [mailto:matt@dpz.com]

Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2012 9:43 AM
To: WAvNA (West Avenue Corridor Neighborhood Association)
Cc: Karja Hansen; Denis Russ

Subject: Re: Thanks & Followup: FDOT meeting

I would have liked to attend but I had another meeting that conflicted. Please share the FDOT presentation information, I'm quite interested in seeing their design choices. They should be using Chapter 19 of the Florida Greenbook rather than the normal Greenbook chapters. Chapter 19 includes alternative standards for DOT roadways in urban areas, like South Beach, where pedestrian and bicycle traffic is much greater than in the majority of the areas FDOT operates which are rural. Their normal operating procedure is to apply rural design standards to urban roadways.

On a related note, I will soon be circulating, through our CNU+MIA organization, draft legislation to push for the adoption of Chapter 19 for Miami-Dade County DOT. FDOT has already adopted this chapter, we need the County to do the same. I've had great interaction with CMB transportation and CIP, who are supportive of pedestrian-centric design for roadways, but the county standards are still in the way. These are why we can't have additional stop signs in many places, on 11th Street and Flamingo Park as an example. I hope we can have the support of WAvNA in pushing these standards to the county; we will be contacting many other citizen and activist organizations for support on this matter.

Regarding the temporary funneling of traffic onto West, which is a horrible idea, you may reference Carmageddon in Los Angeles. Carmageddon was twice cited as a threat when LA had to shut down a few freeways for roadwork, the assumption being that without those roadways the city would absolutely choke in traffic. It didn't happen. Traffic went down. No modifications to flow are needed to deal with construction on Alton. People have the choice of taking the Venetian or 195 if 395 is too difficult, and vice versa. Alton needs not to be thought of as a long-distance thoroughfare or part of the highway system, as it is currently considered, but rather a road serving the City of Miami Beach residents and businesses. And finally on this point I have observed through our many flooding incidents that Alton can operate well with only two lanes. Very often it is reduced to this width between 9th and 11th, sure theres some backup but thats okay. Level of service D through F is appropriate in urban areas like South Beach. Level of service A through C are not. Level of service is the indicator DOT uses to determine the vehicular flow through intersections to make design decisions.

____________________

Matthew Lambert
matt@dpz.com

A Message from WaNA @ FDOT Alton Road Redevelopment Project

Hi flamingomb,

Thanks to everyone who attended the FDOT meeting - we had a great turnout. Everyone had good questions plus many concerns. We are pulling together our notes and will send an update shortly.    We asked the City to hold a workshop, topics are below, and we are contacting other neighborhood associations to schedule the meeting.   

1) Updated FDOT presentation w/contractor details, public information officer responsibilities, traffic officer head counts and specific answers to engineering questions about flood control, handling of storm interruption and adding penalties for delays and cost overruns. Also, how the FDOT project is being coordinated w/other City projects. 

 2) CMB Public Works/Traffic/Police presentations about how CMB will handle resident and local businesses concerns during the construction  

3) CMB Public Works presentation about Stormwater Master Plan and how the FDOT project will integrate with SWMP
   
4) 10th Street sea wall and streetscape   

One MAJOR concern is that the traffic studies were done without a true understanding of our neighborhood's residential and largely pedestrian character. The City/FDOT should think about funneling traffic entering and leaving the Beach via other streets to exit onto 5th Street or Dade Boulevard rather than funneling all traffic onto West Avenue.   

We will keep you updated. Thank you again.   
Christine Florez ; Gayle Durham, Co-Chairs

WAvNA will host meeting with FDOT to discuss Alton Road Reconstruction Project

The WAvNA (West Avenue Corridor Neighborhood Association) will host a meeting with the Florida Department of Transportation to discuss the Alton Road Reconstruction Project on Tuesday, Nov 27th, 6-8 pm, at VFW, 650 West Avenue.


The Alton Road Construction project is going to have BIG impacts on our communtiy. Alton Road will be closed at some places and traffic will be detoured onto West Avenue. WAvNA has invited the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) Alton Road construction project team to discuss this project and its impacts.

The Alton Road Construction project is going to have BIG impacts on our communtiy. Alton Road will be closed at some places and traffic will be detoured onto West Avenue. WAvNA has invited the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) Alton Roa...

What: Alton Road Construction Project

Where: VFW Ground Floor Conference Room

650 West Avenue, The Floridian Condominium in the VFW's Ground Floor Conference Room. Valet and Street Parking is available

When: November 27th, 2012, 6pm - 8pm