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Beach Likes Bay Link Bay Link Light Rail, Saving 63rd Street Flyover, Passed by Electorate I think the people have spoken and I think we should respect the people’s wish.” – Miami Beach Mayor David Dermer
By Erik Bojnansky
The “yes’s” have it. All three Miami Beach non-binding questions on the November 2 ballot were passed by that city’s residents. Approved by the widest margin was Question No. 3 which asked voters if the city should limit the construction of “huge” new buildings over 50,000 square feet in size each year. Voting “yes” were 17,314 voters, or 59.12 percent. By contrast 6,791 voters (23.19 percent) voted “no.” Passing by a far narrower margin was Question No. 1 which asked voters if there should be a light rail streetcar connection between South Beach and Miami. Voting “yes” for the system (estimated to cost $488 million) were 13,718 voters, or 46.84 percent. Voting “no” were 11,456 voters, or 39.12 percent. Another 4,111 voters (14.04 percent) choose not to vote on the question. Question No. 2, which asked voters if the 63rd Street flyover should be preserved and not demolished, was approved overwhelmingly by voters. Punching “yes” were 17,135 voters (58.51 percent). Punching “no” were 6,776 voters (23.14 percent). Those who lived in precincts designated “Miami Beach North” by Miami-Dade Elections voted heavily to preserve the flyover with 5,326 votes (63.19 percent) going “yes” and 1,891 voters (22.44 percent) casting “no” votes. Yet even though most North Beach residents want the flyover preserved, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Transportation said the agency was still moving full-speed ahead with the demolition of the overpass that is located right in front of a proposed residential community known as Aqua. “Our position is that we are going to move ahead with the project,” said Brian Rick, public outreach and media specialist for FDOT. Demolishing the flyover will “improve the safety operations of the 63rd Street flyover and the Indian Creek Intersection.” “The existing flyover is functionally obsolete and [is] an extreme safety hazard,” Rick said. The drawbridge, meanwhile, needs to be renovated. “We do understand the city’s concerns and we will continue to work with them to minimize impacts during construction.” FDOT will begin bidding out the flyover removal/drawbridge improvement contract in January 2005. “Construction” will commence on April 2006. The project should be completed in a year and eight months. Although the Miami Beach City Commission voted to remove the flyover by a five-to-two vote in 2000, many North Beach residents question if the 20-plus months of disruption to traffic flow will be worth any of the alleged benefits FDOT touts. (Critics say there might only be a slight improvement in afternoon rush-hour traffic.) Alex Annunziato, chair of Citizens to Preserve Miami Beach, a political action committee that campaigned to preserve the flyover, said it will be up to state legislators who count Miami Beach voters as their constituents, to bring pressure on FDOT to leave the flyover alone and seek alternative traffic solutions. “They are not going to piss off an electorate that is seriously behind [preserving the flyover].” At the same time, Citizens to Preserve Miami Beach were delivered a blow on Question No. 1 regarding Bay Link. The PAC, which raised $8,650 in contributions and loans, originally formed to oppose a light rail Bay Link, advocating an enhanced bus rapid transit system between Miami Beach and Miami instead. “I think we were fighting an uphill battle, especially because of the wording [on the ballot],” Annunziato said. While still believing that many Beach residents will still be wary of the overhead hanging wires for the proposed system and the necessity of government to obtain private land, Annunziato said the referendum did show that a majority of voters do desire a transportation link between Miami and Miami Beach. “You got to respect what the people voted for,” he said. Mayor David Dermer, a fierce critic of the light rail system, regretted that he didn’t spend more time campaigning against Question No. 1. For the last couple of months Dermer said he has bee campaigning for the re-election of President George W. Bush. “I wish I could have given more time to [the Bay Link question] but I am very thankful that the commission put it on the ballot,” Dermer said. When asked how he would rule on future Bay Link questions before the commission, Dermer said, “We’ll see when it develops but as I said I respect the people’s decision just as I respect the people’s decision in electing the president to a second term… I think the people have spoken and I think we should respect the people’s wish.” Mark Needle, part of the steering committee for the Alliance for Reliable Transit, a pro-light rail bay link group, said ART members used their own funds to print up a few cards. Embers also e-mailed letters to the editor to local newspapers and spread word of the benefits of Bay Link among their South Beach neighbors. “We do what volunteer groups do with no money and we concentrated on South Beach because that is the effected area,” Needle said. As a result, many South Beach residents came out heavily for Bay Link. According to Miami-Dade Elections, 3,301 votes (50.78 percent) were cast in favor of Question No. 1 in “South Miami Beach” precincts while 2,218 votes (34.12 percent) cast “no” votes. By contrast, 3,685 votes (43.72 percent) cast “no” votes in the northern portion of Miami Beach while 3,657 votes (43.39 percent) cast “yes” votes. Needle said the numbers hardly surprised him since two-thirds of South Beach voters voted for the half-penny transit tax that also included a rapid transit link to Miami. “How many more times can we vote on this issue? It’s done,” Needle said. After numerous residents flooded Miami Beach City Hall, many of them opposing the light rail system, the Miami Beach City Commission, by a four-to-three vote, narrowly approved a resolution supporting Bay Link as the locally preferred alternative transportation form linking Miami to Miami Beach in September 2003. But months later, when Commissioner Richard Steinberg asked that the proposed flyover demolition be placed on the November 2 ballot, Commissioner Matti Bower requested that Bay Link also be placed on the ballot. Both “non-binding” questions, as well as Commissioner Saul Gross’s development referendum, were approved for the ballot during a special August 30 meeting. Last year some members of the countywide Metropolitan Planning Organization claimed they could place light rail on Miami Beach’s streets whether the Beach commission wanted it or not. But when the item of commencing the next phase of the Bay Link came up in the September 30 meeting, MPO members opted to table the item until after the November 2 election, Transportation System Manager Wilson Fernandez said. When asked what would happen if a majority of Miami Beach voters went against the Bay Link question, Fernandez replied, “Like everything in the political realm, it can take twists and turns. There are many scenarios that could happen. I have already stopped trying to figure these things out.” As things stand now there will likely not be any federal funding for Bay Link anytime soon, the transportation manager said. Fernandez said, at this rate, Bay Link will not break ground in Miami Beach until 2018 and the system won’t be completed until 2023, assuming the “final study” shows that the system is indeed feasible. (A preliminary study on the Bay Link light rail connection has been completed by a consulting team headed by Parsons Brinckheroff Quade & Douglas. Originally contracted at $1.5 million, Parsons Brinckheroff received $1.9 million for the amended study. Parson Brinckerhoff now has an $84 million contract with the county overseeing transportation projects.) Now that the final study can finally commence (the next opportunity will be December, Fernandez said), Needle is hopeful the Federal Transit Agency will give Bay Link a favorable rating. “Streetcars are the least expensive rail-based solution and it attracts far more riders than buses,” said Needle. (Most of the bill, $200 million, will be used for the high-speed rail connection along McArthur Causeway, Needle said.) Another factor that may speed Bay Link along: Miami is moving full-speed ahead with its light rail streetcar project, Needle said. “I think the final myth has been put to rest,” Needle said. “The vote eliminated the idea that Miami Beach residents oppose this system.” |
