FYI Miami: December 16, 2021

Below are some of the FYIs in this week’s edition. The entire content of this week’s FYIs and Insider sections is available by subscription only. To subscribe click here.

SAFE STREETS SUMMIT: The Miami-Dade Transportation Planning Organization, the Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization and the Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency are partnering to host the ninth annual Safe Streets Summit next year. The event would bring national speakers, public officials, technical staff and community partners to discuss how to design and implement safe and equitable facilities for all modes of transportation, the website says. It is to be at the InterContinental Miami Hotel. On Feb. 17 there would be a Pre-Conference Mobile Workshop and on Feb. 18 a full conference day.

TRANSPORTATION FUNDS: Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled a $10.5 billion budget for fiscal 2022-23 to fund state transportation infrastructure. “This budget represents additional critical investments in Florida’s communities, economy, and future of our state,” said Department of Transportation Secretary Kevin J. Thibault. The budget includes $9.27 billion for the Florida Department of Transportation’s work program, including $3.6 billion for highway construction to include 138 new lane miles, $1.2 billion in resurfacing to include 2,637 lane miles, $117.3 million in seaport infrastructure enhancements, $297.2 million for aviation improvements, $185.5 million for scheduled repairs of 52 bridges and replacement of 17 bridges, $597.7 million for rail/transit program advancements, and $154.9 million for safety.

NO ROADMAPS: Opportunity Miami, which replaced targeted job initiative One Community One Goal as a Beacon Council effort last month, has no written blueprint for its three focuses of innovation and entrepreneurship, talent and inclusion, and sustainability and resilience. The organization wants a new model without saying at the outset what it plans to accomplish. It will use “compasses, not maps,” Matt Haggman, the Beacon Council executive vice president in charge, told the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce last week. The plan is to ask the public about a relevant issue each month and then share solutions, working from the bottom up, in looking toward the Miami of 2040. “The best ideas come from the community,” he said.

PNC OPENS IN PINECREST: PNC Bank has opened its second retail branch in Miami-Dade County, in 2,700 square feet at 10207 S Dixie Hwy. in Pinecrest. PNC’s retail network has about 2,700 brick-and-mortar locations in nearly 40 markets. The Brickell Avenue branch, the first in Miami-Dade, opened in August. A Coral Gables branch is to open in February and Doral in April or May, the bank said.