Miami

Derailed

Delayed Metrorail extension meeting disgruntles residents

By Brandyss Howard

The postponement of two highly anticipated public meetings about the Miami-Dade Transit’s Metrorail expansion left a bad taste in the mouths of residents concerned about how the proposed $523 million project will affect their families and community.

Laverne McDay, an Overtown resident for more than 10 years, and other citizens arrived at the Sheila Winitzer Central Administration Building at Northwest 33rd Street and 32nd Avenue on Feb. 26 to gather “valuable information” from Miami-Dade Transit officials about the Metrorail extension that would connect the Miami Intermodel Center to the Earlington Heights station, only to discover that the open-house meeting had been delayed.

“I left work an hour early to come down here because I was interested to see what kind of changes were going to be made,” said McDay. “But once again, all we are left with are broken promises.”

She also expressed her disgust that the community was not notified of the cancellation, and that the only explanation residents received came in the form of blue flyers distributed by a desk clerk at the building. The document urged citizens to express their concerns to a Miami-Dade Transit representative via mail, e-mail or phone. But when McDay called the number the next morning, she heard a recording stating to “call back at a later time.”

Construction on the first phase of the proposed “Orange-Line” project, which includes the corridors of Northwest 27th Avenue and the East-West extension near Florida International University, is scheduled to begin within the next 10 to 15 months.

Residents living in those areas want to know more about the project and if it will improve the safety of their communities and reduce rush-hour traffic.

“There are so many people driving up and down Biscayne, up and down I-95 in a hurry trying to get to work,” said Winstor Fredericks, who lives near Biscayne Boulevard and 135th Street. “I am wondering just how many people the Metrorail would be able to accommodate.”

With questions left unanswered, all residents can do at this point is wait — either for the county to reschedule another meeting or for someone to answer the Miami-Dade Transit outreach hotline.