☀️ Transforming Miami Beach, a New Beginning for a New Commission
It’s a new dawn, and we are so close to having a newly elected board of city commissioners.
Runoff elections for Group 1 and Group 3 commissioners are scheduled for next Tuesday, November 16.
Early voting starts today, Friday, November 12, 2021, and ends this Sunday, November 14, 2021.
Check out our candidate questionnaire to see responses from Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, Raquel Pacheco, and Stephen Cohen; Alex Fernandez did not submit a response. We’ll be casting our ballots for Kristen Rosen Gonzalez for Group 1.
Here are the mobility initiatives and policies that we’d like to see our new and existing leaders push for in Miami Beach:
1. PUT PEOPLE OVER CARS AND MAKE OCEAN DRIVE PEDESTRIAN-ONLY
We’ve talked about this ad nauseum, and it’s an easy call. Our new board of commissioners needs to set the tone for sustainable, safe, and economically productive streets by keeping cars off Ocean Drive, halting the impending reopening of the street to private vehicles set in motion during the current Commission’s impromptu vote two weeks ago.
2. MAKE WASHINGTON AVENUE A TRANSPORTATION UTOPIA
Washington Ave has seen an increase in bicycle usage of over 465% since the implementation of the parking-protected bike lane pilot project, while cars’ travel times have gone up, on average, by 1 minute.
Rather than revert the street to its old configuration, push for the creation of Miami Beach’s first complete street and make Washington Avenue a transit-oriented corridor. This would be in line with the vision set in Miami Beach’s Transportation Master Plan, the County’s SMART Plan, the Washington Ave Master Plan, and the ongoing Art Deco Cultural District Vision Study.
3. ADOPT A CYCLING SAFETY ORDINANCE
Our commission adopted a Bicycle Pedestrian Master Plan in 2015 that our city manager and staff are under no legal obligation to follow. This has left our city with a fragmented network of bike lanes, having completed a measly 0.1 miles of the protected lanes they promised by 2020.
Let’s put cyclists at the center of city planning by passing a Cycling Safety Ordinance that would make it a requirement to build protected bike lanes on city streets that are set to be reconstructed and repaved, as well as the construction of quick-build protected bike lanes on streets that are not designated for reconstruction to increase the rate at which protected bike lanes are created.
Check out the City of Cambridge for inspiration – they were the first to implement this type of ordinance in 2019.
4. SET AGGRESSIVE TARGETS TO REDUCE PRIVATE CAR USE
Miami Beach needs to set bold goals to make our streets functional, productive, and safe. Prioritizing the movement of people – not cars. A 23% reduction of private car use by 2035 is in line with the city’s own goals outlined in the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan. To get there, we need to pass initiatives that will incentivize people to get out of their cars and move around by walking, biking, and riding public transit.
Here are some suggestions on where to start:
Narrow the roads. There is an excess of evidence that suggests wide roads are more dangerous because they encourage speeding. Rethink how we use our pavement and pass projects that repurpose car lanes to create space for better sidewalks, bike lanes, bus lanes, and green spaces.
Complete the city’s bike master plan. As more people choose to bike, focus on building more protected bike lanes to connect our disjointed bike network, increasing the rate of pilot projects, and implementing an ordinance to help us achieve the goals set forth in the city's 2015 Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan.
Protect more bike lanes. Vulnerable road users need barriers – not paint, drivers pass cyclists about 1.25 feet closer when they’re in a painted bike lane compared to streets with no bike infrastructure. Prioritize protecting our existing lanes by adding zebras, curbs, parked cars, planters, and more. We need more physical barriers between cyclists and motorists, paint is not “infrastructure”.
Implement a 20 mph speed limit citywide. Crashes between cars and pedestrians have a 40% risk of fatality if the driver is going at 30 mph, that risk drops to 5% at 20 mph, twenty is plenty.
Ban right turns on red. Drivers who stop at intersections and look left to check if the road is clear often do not look right before turning, missing pedestrians who have the right of way and resulting in preventable crashes or near-crashes.
Get rid of beg buttons. Pedestrian push buttons penalize people for walking – facilitating the free flow of cars at the expense of those on foot. Every time our city installs a beg button it is a physical reminder of how it continues to prioritize cars over people. We are begging you, ban beg buttons.
Plan for a better future! Rather than groom an excess of cars through wider roads, bridges, and tunnels, discourage drivers and address gridlock through congestion pricing; study local school zones and improve car-free access to our centers of learning; designate pedestrian priority zones on our island; increase bike parking in covered and well-lit public spaces; plan for the city we want to become – who knows? Maybe someday we really can become Car Free Miami Beach!
WHAT WE ARE READING
Why Widening Highways Doesn’t Bring Traffic Relief [Bloomberg CityLab]
U.S. transportation authorities have spent billions widening urban freeways to fight traffic delays. What makes the “iron law of congestion” so hard to defeat?
If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, then these transportation agencies seem certifiably nuts. Why is it taking so long — and why has it been so hard — for officials to recognize the futility of urban roadway expansion?
Highway planners aren’t crazy. But they are operating within a political and financial system that rewards new construction, despite its consistent failures to reduce congestion. A stroll through transportation history suggests that, unless those underlying incentives change, we’re likely doomed to continue repeating the same predictable, costly mistakes.