Kendall traffic is INSANE (Miami, Sunset: condos, homes, high school)

[Wordsmith12]

I'm already missing the little ones being on summer vacation. My commute was roughly 35-40 mins over the summer. Now that school is back in session, it is taking me an hour to drive from my condo to work in the morning. Mind you, I live near Sunset and 137th and work near Sunset and 67th -- a distance of only 10 miles!!

I've tried leaving at 7:10, 7:20, and 7:30 but the outcome is just the same. I got so frustrated in the spring that I began leaving around 6:45, which resulted in a 35-40 minute drive. But sitting in the car for an hour and a half before work starts really blows.

Is leaving that early the only way to avoid sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic for so long?

[doggiebus]

A few months ago I had a doctors appointment at 9am, 7 miles from my house. It took me 45 minutes to get there and that is going all the back routes once I saw the major arteries weren't moving much. Traffic in the morning is what is.

[bale002]

Originally Posted by Wordsmith12

Is leaving that early the only way to avoid sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic for so long?

Originally Posted by doggiebus

Traffic in the morning is what is.

And I don't see any other easy practical solutions.


Some theoretical and difficult to implement solutions:

1) continue Snapper Creek Expy west to Florida's Tpke or 127th Ave, declaring eminent domain and demolishing several sectors of SFHs and paving over sections of county parks;

2) extend Metrorail from Dadeland going west along Kendall Drive;

3) widen Kendall and Sunset Drives to make more lanes, or maybe bus lanes similar to the South Miami-Dade Busway from Florida City to Dadeland South;

4) elevated express lanes down Kendall and/or Sunset Drives (there is a proposal to widen the South Miami-Dade Busway with express car lanes, including overpasses at major intersections);

5) maybe some combination of 3) and 4).

Don't hold your breath.

Good Luck!

[tallrick]

Strange how when your condo was built in the 1980's there was never a traffic problem. Look at the mess they have created in West Miami along 67 avenue with the suburban stackers. They need to start demolishing condos and replace them with 1 acre homes.

Seriously they need to get rid of the 15 mph school zones.

[hurricaneMan1992]

Originally Posted by Wordsmith12

Now that school is back in session, it is taking me an hour to drive from my condo to work in the morning. Mind you, I live near Sunset and 137th and work near Sunset and 67th -- a distance of only 10 miles!!

This is exactly the problem with Kendall and many parts of South Florida. We shouldn't have so many condos so far out from Town where people have no option except to drive to work. I have to agree with Tallrick that those should all be homes with sizeable lots--which was the original intent of having suburbs in the first place. This is exactly why living in the suburbs and working in the suburbs doesn't work out well traffic wise. Having all those business centers outside of Town just makes traffic bad everywhere! Unfortunately, it is a structural problem without an easy solution. Mass transit plus congestion tolling can help a lot, but this is not an easy solution since people don't want to pay.

[tallrick]

Originally Posted by hurricaneMan1992

This is exactly the problem with Kendall and many parts of South Florida. We shouldn't have so many condos so far out from Town where people have no option except to drive to work. I have to agree with Tallrick that those should all be homes with sizeable lots--which was the original intent of having suburbs in the first place. This is exactly why living in the suburbs and working in the suburbs doesn't work out well traffic wise. Having all those business centers outside of Town just makes traffic bad everywhere! Unfortunately, it is a structural problem without an easy solution. Mass transit plus congestion tolling can help a lot, but this is not an easy solution since people don't want to pay.

I am strongly against high density suburbs. When I look at that future slum called Kendall Square it literally makes me sick. There is nothing appealing about the design or density of those kinds of developments. This county was overdeveloped on a 1960's road system. There should be rail put in along all power transmission lines and every major canal, Metrorail should be installed along every toll road. Eventually all tolls should be eliminated, There should never be widening of existing roads but new roads built. Wider roads mean more congestion and accidents. As mentioned above high density development should only exist where it is next to centers of work or play. There should be only rural development in places where a through street does not exist every 1/2 mile.

The high density developments are lower quality for family use, so they should be priced low so that the younger people can afford to live there instead of with their parents in the suburbs,

[valicky]

I'm so glad my jury duty was during the summer. The traffic was bad enough then. I can't imagine having to do that drive now. An easy solution is letting you come in an hour later. Telecommuting would be even better if possible.

[Wordsmith12]

Originally Posted by tallrick

Seriously they need to get rid of the 15 mph school zones.

tallrick, you took the words right out of my mouth!

The school zones alone account for roughly half of my driving time. When driving on Sunset Drive, it takes me 20 minutes to get out of the ones between 137th and 117th avenues and another 10 minutes or so to get past the one at 67th and Sunset.

[Travelassie]

Originally Posted by Wordsmith12

tallrick, you took the words right out of my mouth!

The school zones alone account for roughly half of my driving time. When driving on Sunset Drive, it takes me 20 minutes to get out of the ones between 137th and 117th avenues and another 10 minutes or so to get past the one at 67th and Sunset.

Unfortunately I don't really see any other routes that might speed up your commute to work, especially since it's a direct shoot down Sunset Drive. Your biggest problem, besides the mind-numbing throngs of traffic in that area ( and pretty much all over Miami, are the school zones) on your route. I thought for a minute that perhaps Miller Drive might be a bit less traffic than Sunset, as if I recall there are fewer schools on that road, but then I remembered that it gets pretty congested around the Palmetto Expwy and Miller, and then there is a lot of traffic around South Miami Middle/High school in the early mornings. It might be worth a try once, though, to see if there is any hope it might be better.

If it were me doing that commute, I might do my best to leave home around 6:50 AM, (before the school zone kicks in at Sunset High), and instead of waiting in your car at your workplace, see if there is a place closer to work where you might be able to stop for a coffee and maybe breakfast, where there is likely Wi-Fi and you can entertain yourself. Just a thought. IMO there is nothing much more frustrating than knowing your commute is short milewise, but it takes forever to get there because of traffic. I feel for you, I can remember driving the 7 miles it took me from Palmetto Bay to Baptist Hospital in the mornings, and having it take almost an hour some days.

[Wordsmith12]

Originally Posted by Travelassie

I thought for a minute that perhaps Miller Drive might be a bit less traffic than Sunset, as if I recall there are fewer schools on that road, but then I remembered that it gets pretty congested around the Palmetto Expwy and Miller, and then there is a lot of traffic around South Miami Middle/High school in the early mornings. It might be worth a try once, though, to see if there is any hope it might be better.

If it were me doing that commute, I might do my best to leave home around 6:50 AM, (before the school zone kicks in at Sunset High), and instead of waiting in your car at your workplace, see if there is a place closer to work where you might be able to stop for a coffee and maybe breakfast, where there is likely Wi-Fi and you can entertain yourself.

Thanks for your reply.

I tried taking Miller once in the morning. Needless to say, it was the longest drive to work I've had since moving -- an hour and 18 minutes. Never again! Lol. In addition to the school, Miller has only two lanes.

I do plan to start leaving around 6:45. I stated above, I did that a few times in the spring and managed to get to work in 30-35 minutes. I'd rather get to work earlier than get stuck in that awful congestion.