so what do you all think about the HUGE revamp of 595 and SR84 this summer ? (Miami: crime, construction)

[heydade]

As some of you may or may not know, there is a MAJOR construction roadway project that will start next month. 595 is going to be widened with express lanes in the middle and they will also widen SR84. I think I saw a total of 11 lanes of traffic in the diagram that was in the sun-sentinal not too long ago. The most important and drastic improvement will be flyover exit and on-ramps from all the roads such as Flamingo, Nob Hill, Hiatus, Pine Island, etc....no more rushing to yield over and fighting cars trying to come in and out of the merge lanes !! FINALLY ! Whoever invented 595 should be sued. Do you know how many accidents there have been because of the completely ridiculous exit and entrance ramps from and onto 595 ? I think the variable toll rates depending on the the amount of traffic in the center express lanes will be awesome. As traffic increases, so will the toll rates....so only those fortunate enough will access these lanes....so there will never be bumper to bumper traffic as I see it.

They say because of the unique funding structure, that construction will be MUCH quicker in duration than what is typical with roadway projects in Florida. I am very excited to see this change and yes..will be patient during the construction phase as the new changes are going to be FANTASTIC. Your thoughts ?

Click on the project video on the right hand column of this site to see all about it ! http://www.i-595.com/default.aspx

[fauve]

Nice. I was wondering about those middle lanes going in. Is this a federally funded project a la Obama?

[jhlcomp]

Yes, this has been the plan for a while. I remember when 595 didn't even exist. I feel as positive as you.

[Wild Style]

usually road widening is a waste of money and generally speaking you have to keep doing until some point when you cant anymore. However with depopulation going on, this should hold the area over for some time.

[westondailyphoto]

traffic is going to be a nightmare for a good 3 years.....

[harttogo]

Our cities and county continue to make the area car dependent. Although with our ubiquitous sprawl I guess it is the only practical mode of transportation.

[Nolefan34]

I like the changes for the long-run, except you can bet it will take at least 3-5 years to complete. The next 3 years will be a nightmare on 595. Just think of how long it is taking for the Turnpike construction and how dangerous that road is with those cement walls on each side. I avoid the Turnpike at all costs these days because it is so dangerous. The area around Commercial Blvd has been ripped up for years now. How difficult is it?

[compelled to reply]

IMO something had to be done about 595, but I'm not sure that it deserved all of the money that it got. 595 is about 40-60k cars over capacity, which is definitely a problem, but as wild style said Broward is in a negative growth pattern and doesn't have much room to grow in the first place. Right now 595 mostly moves along fine except for between 7-9 when it usually becomes stop-and-go from Flamingo Rd down to about University Dr, which is a major annoyance that adds about an extra 15 minutes getting on from 75/Sawgrass vs non-peak times. In the afternoon, it usually just bottlenecks down to 45 mph right around University Dr although sometimes the slower speed can reach all the way to State Road 7. Point being, it's a problem, but I think adding an extra lane and some engineering improvements at interchanges for safety would have done the job, considering you have some true traffic monstrosities in Florida that have hardly even been touched, such as I-4 through Orlando. This 595 project seems unnecessarily huge.

Money could of also been spent making the side arteries more efficient. I'm in Pinellas County right now and many of the major streets here have a similar layout to the east-west thoroughfares in Broward, but have higher speed limits, overpasses at major intersections and more efficient traffic light synchronization. I think this would take some more traffic off of 595 since many of the east/west streets still have at least some extra capacity and the ones that don't could definitely be made more efficient. Pines Blvd comes to mind, which I think could benefit from an overpass at Flamingo Rd, an auxiliary lane and a slightly higher speed limit.

[Nolefan34]

Broward has plenty of room to grow, except the growth will be upwards not outwards. Meaning taller buildings, highrises instead of suburbanite communities, and just high density development. That is what you can expect once this current downtrend reverses. It will reverse eventually, because the population will continue to grow at an exponential rate and demand for housing will go up.

Just look at Miami-Dade. They have about the same amount of available land as Broward (which is very little left), but 2X as many people in the same space. They began building upwards decades ago since there's little room to expand outwards. That is what you can expect from Broward County during the next 20 years.

Also, does anyone remember 1981? People thought that South FL (Miami mainly) was done. We were in a severe recession and the housing market was imploding. Crime skyrocketed and the drug wars were going on. The world seemed like it was coming to an end in South FL. People couldn't look past 1981. They couldn't forsee that eventually South FL would explode again, just as it did several other times in the past. They couldn't forsee the tremendous growth from 1982-2005 that South FL would experience for better or for worse.

[Nolefan34]

Here's a question for you guys:
Where in America does it take 45 minutes to drive 15 miles with no traffic on a high-speed expressway on perfectly flat land?
Answer= Broward County, from downtown Fort Lauderdale to Miramar or Coral Springs.

Broward County has the same problem as Miami-Dade in that there aren't enough east-west expressways. 595 is the only true east-west expressway in Broward. The Turnpike Extension and Sawgrass don't connect with I-95, and they are too far out on the fringes of the county to be useful for commuting to Fort Lauderdale. To add to the problems, the local highways such as Pines, Sheridan, Griffin, Sunrise, Commercial, Sample, etc are highly innefficient to commute across county if you live west. It takes a year and a day with all of the stoplights.

They need to extend the Turnpike Extension eastward to 95 in Hollywood/Aventura. They also need to extend the Sawgrass east to 95. Also, they really need to upgrade the I-75/Turnpike interchange so that you can go north/south/east/west instead of that piece of garbage that exists.

The idea of the Turnpike being a limited-access toll road is outdated. They need to open it up and build more exits. South Florida and Orlando, the 2 major areas it serves, are major metropolises now. The number of daily commuters far outweighs the number of tourists driving to Key West. It would serve the interests of both the Turnpike and the people of South FL to open it up to more commuters. More commuters means more $ in tolls. I think they're finally figuring that out now which is why they're widening the highway.