Page 4A South Florida Sun-Times/Wednesday, July 4, 2012
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‘AROUND THE CITY OF CHOICE’ Traffic is a problem no matter what city you work and live in HALLANDALE BEACH - In the last few columns, I covered the Beachwalk development project and our budget. Last month the commission acted on another item that is on the top of the list of concerns for our residents and needs improvement; traffic. This is not just the top complaint for our city; it is the same for many cities around the county and globe. Even in a small community there is always some type of peak traffic flow. In the late 1800’s the term rush hour was created and since then engineers, planners and governments have been trying to mitigate traffic. Of all polled cities around our nation 52% showed this as a top issue. If you travel to any vibrant city there is traffic. If there is commerce, there are jobs and a competitive market place. In urban communities like Hallandale Beach all these aspects collide. We have many assets and with them create a place where people want to be. We have both year round residents and tourists, we have all types of commercial uses and we have entertainment. These uses place a demand on our built out roadways. It has to be noted we do not even control the
Mayor Joy Cooper main roads in our city. Broward County and the Florida Department of Transportation are the two agencies that make the final decisions and until recently hold all the purse strings. When we adopted our transportation plan on a 4-1 vote, we created a Transportation Impact Fee. This fee can be used to provide transportation improvements within our borders. We do have the ability to provide input and play an integral role in how the traffic plans are implemented with Broward County and FDOT. For the past 10 years I have been serving on the MPO. This agency is made up of representatives from every city and the county. We meet monthly to review and approve transportation improvements around the county. Having a seat at the table has given our city the ability to work side by side
with BCT and FDOT to address many concerns. Over the past six years Federal Highway upgrades, Hallandale Beach Boulevard upgrades, extension of Diana Drive and the A1A project have been planned and are in different phases of completion. The most significant project will be the real time fiber optic traffic signalization project; ITS. Along with Staff, I have lobbied for this project for the past years. We even asked to create our own system since the county did not have it budgeted in the plans until 2018. Now it is on the horizon with a scheduled start of 2013-2014. Other then these projects the next best way to address traffic is to continually look at areas in which we can improve flow. Traffic has always been on the top of the list for the commission and our city managers. City Manager Mark Antonio has tackled traffic with hands on approach. Over the past year we have met with BCT and FDOT to improve bus transit and most importantly; flow. At one of last month’s commissions meetings they offered changes to Hallandale Beach Boulevard to once again address east west patterns. Readers may recall
Of all polled cities around our nation, 52% showed this as a top issue. If you travel to any vibrant city there is traffic. If there is commerce, there are jobs and a competitive market place. In urban communities like Hallandale Beach all these aspects collide. that last year the commission approved the changes on Dixie Highway and HBB. The changes heading east were to be built this year. Many residents simply hate this pattern. I do not think there was one person that found it to be counterintuitive and were skeptical that it did move more traffic faster and provided a longer time for the light. FDOT actually proved it works. That is why the commission approved the change and were ready to see it completed. Originally FDOT wanted to eliminate all the left hand turns at Dixie and HBB and create a totally different pattern called a series of rights. Drivers would bypass the left and make their way to Dixie by making right turns around an adjacent block. They proposed this plan three years ago but it would have a direct impact to the businesses around the tracks. They proposed the left on to First Avenue be eliminated. We stood our ground to protect busi-
nesses and the alternative was the configuring at Dixie. Last meeting the commission pulled the plug on the existing configuration and moved to adopt a new recommendation to eliminate the left turn heading south on North Dixie. Obviously, as I stated during the meeting, this action was trading one area’s pain for another. Sure enough a property owner on North Dixie contacted the commission the next day. The change will be reviewed once more over the next month to see if this is the only solution for the intersection. The other changes that the commission agreed to adopt were changes on Golden Isles Drive, Layne Boulevard and 10th Avenue at Gulfstream Park. The commission delayed actions eliminating the left onto HBB heading east from south bound NE 8th Avenue until the property owners were fully informed. All changes are intended to add time to
the east west traffic. They are not major infrastructure changes, but simply lane marking and light timing changes. I requested that Diplomat Parkway also be included since the left heading north is too short and does not allow for cars to turn when there is not oncoming traffic on HBB. FDOT did modeling for the commission to provide some idea of how the new patterns will improve circulation. The issue may arise that the traffic heading onto HBB may be delayed. We were assured the changes can revert back if they create any unintended problems difficulty. Hope you are having a wonderful Fourth of July!!! Please feel free to contact me at anytime with your questions and concerns. I can be reached at 954457-1318, cell/text 954-632-5700 or e-mail me at www.MayorJoyCooper.com