Archives

  • www.xinsurance.com
Advertisement
The Newspaper for the Future of Miami
Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin
Front Page » Communities » Neighborhood program to slow traffic ‘hitting a plateau’

Neighborhood program to slow traffic ‘hitting a plateau’

Written by on April 5, 2022
  • www.miamitodayepaper.com
Advertisement
Neighborhood program to slow traffic ‘hitting a plateau’

As traffic and tourism ramps up in Miami Beach, commissioners and members of the community are asking: “What’s next for Flamingo Park’s Slow Streets program?”

Originally conceived as a one-month pilot program that commenced in October 2020, this experiment aimed at reducing speeds, limiting through traffic and encouraging other forms of transportation in Flamingo Park and nearby neighborhoods is still running after seeing early success.

However, transportation director Jose Gonzalez described it as “hitting a plateau.” And at a Monday evening meeting, Flamingo Park Neighborhood Committee member and “long-time resident” Ben Batchelder said a recent decision by the city to remove planters and signage has essentially rendered the program “cancelled.” Where Slow Streets will go from here was the main topic of discussion at this meeting, and was be addressed this week in a discussion item at the city commission.

Until last month, streets that were part of the network were dotted with physical, three-dimensional planters and signs in the middle of the roads that made drivers aware of the 20 mile per hour speed limit. These were removed last month, generating controversy among residents, especially as the timing coincided with the rush of spring break traffic.

According to Mr. Gonzalez, this decision was made for maintenance reasons; at some points, he told Miami Today, the city was replacing 100 signs per month. In their place, the city has begun installing textured green signs on the streets themselves that read “Slow 20 MPH.” Funding for the pilot program, Mr. Gonzalez said, is roughly $80,000 this fiscal year.

Commissioner Mark Samuelian, who originally sponsored Slow Streets, said the next iteration will be “Slow Streets 2.0,” and must explore short- and long-term solutions. Following covid, he continued, dangerous driving behavior has increased as a trend not just in Miami Beach but around the US. “One of the best evidence points is that some of the signs kept getting knocked down,” he said.

At Monday’s meeting, Flamingo Park residents discussed critiques of the program and possible solutions, such as speed humps, curb extensions and signs that could be hit and pop back up instead of needing to be replaced.

The association voted after roughly an hour of discussion to urge the city to continue the Slow Streets program and keep exploring options. But the textured green surfaces, multiple members remarked, do not have the same effect on slowing traffic as physical barriers.

“Physical barriers are the only way to slow aggressive driving,” Mr. Batchelder said. He added that, while the construction signs that were used in the early months of the program could be easily damaged, the planters are more durable and he’d never seen one hit.

Matthew Gultanoff, founder of grassroots advocacy group Better Streets Miami Beach, also voiced this opinion to Miami Today, and said he further took issue with the planters being removed before new measures were installed. “It was a shock to the neighborhood,” he said. The step was not addressed at a commission meeting, but was sent in a “hasty” email last month without input from residents.

Slow Streets, Mr. Gultanoff said, was recognized in Mayor Dan Gelber’s State of the City address in March and has won awards from Miami-Dade County – which makes it all the more “bewildering” that the infrastructure was changed with little notice. The importance of the program, he continued, is underscored by the fact that around 70% of neighborhood children walk or bike to school.

Linsey Lovell, a Flamingo Park resident and member of the city’s Transportation Parking & Bicycle-Pedestrian Facilities Committee, said Monday that the neighborhood may also be suffering from a “recency effect,” as the streets are returning to pre-covid traffic levels that are a shift from the quieter streets residents could see earlier in the pandemic. Enforcement, she continued, is one of the program’s “biggest issues.”

“Transportation can take down signs, add signs, put stamps on the road – without enforcement, it doesn’t do us any good,” she said.

Mr. Gonzalez confirmed that while speed limits are enforced at the new rate of 20 miles per hour in the network as limits would be enforced anywhere else in the city, there is no extra police presence in Flamingo Park. Some curb extensions, as well as bike lanes, have been added to the neighborhood as elements of other transportation projects.

“I remain as committed as ever to the goals,” Mr. Samuelian told residents Monday. “I’m not thrilled with how this came to this point with some changes to the program that took place, frankly, quicker than I think they should have. But I am going to bring an item to the commission Wednesday, we are going to talk about it.”

  • www.miamitodayepaper.com
Advertisement