Reso 2008-1261 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Luh Consulting) Inc. 2 4. The routine functioning of transit services including local shuttle buses and school buses is increasingly jeopardized as unforeseen delays due to congestion on Collins Avenue disrupts the regular and timely service expected of these carriers which effectively discourages public use. To the extent that public transit services are compromised, residents and visitors are induced to rely on greater use of private automobiles which in turn aggravates the congestion. The concerns of central neighborhood residents that opening another north-south route along North Bay Road into and out of these neighborhoods would create increased traffic, noise and hazards led to the modification of the plan language to provide a bridge for only bicycles and pedestrians. I believe this concern overstates the potential for traffic increases that would be noticeable primarily because North Bay Road effectively ends at 183rd Street where private property blocks access to the north and at Sunny Isles Beach Boulevard on the south making the 3/4 mile length of North Bay Road too short to provide a through traffic alternative to Collins Avenue. The number of internal vehicular trips added to North Bay Road from local residents would be even less than the typical one-mile square urban neighborhood with collector streets bisecting it (Greater Miami is laid out on a section line grid of arterial roadways spaced one mile apart). This typical urban neighborhood has proven to be a stable and acceptable environment for local traffic movements consistent with safety and peaceable residential living conditions. The central neighborhoods of Sunny Isles Beach have effectively no east west traffic, unlike most urban neighborhoods on a grid street layout and thus would have even less basis for concern about traffic intrusions. Any traffic intrusion issues that might arise, however, can be effectively dealt with through modest traffic calming measures. On balance, the first priority of local government is always to protect life and property and secondarily to maintain quality of life. The addition of a connector bridge on North Bay Road would offer substantial enhancements to the protection of resident's health and welfare as well as mitigation of growing inconveniences of traffic delays through the use of an alternative access route. With the growth of the City and surrounding areas and consequent increasing burdens on Collins Avenue traffic conditions, the recommendation to provide alternative access and egress for central neighborhood residents is timely and of vital importance. I am in full support of your efforts. Very truly, Jack Luft