Miami-Dade Transportation Committee Meeting - July 8, 2025
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Miami-Dade Transportation Committee Meeting - July 8, 2025
The Miami-Dade Transportation Committee met on July 8, 2025, at 9:00 AM in Commission Chambers under Chairwoman Eileen Higgins. The meeting began with a special presentation recognizing Theo Karantsalis as the CITT Ambassador of the Quarter for January–March 2025. The committee then addressed a discussion on interior residential speed limits, an update on the Miami Freedom Park pedestrian bridge, a public hearing on the Coral Gables/University Station Rapid Transit Subzone, and voted on a consent agenda of routine items, all of which were forwarded to the full Board of County Commissioners with favorable recommendations.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Susan Simpson, Deputy City Manager of Sunny Isles Beach, spoke on the interior residential speed limit discussion. She expressed that her city’s extremely urban environment—with many walkers, scooters, bike riders, and streets lacking sidewalks—requires consideration of local conditions beyond just data when determining speed limits. She urged the committee to account for these factors.
- Renita Holmes, Executive Director of WAVE (Women in Our Homes), addressed transportation issues for persons with disabilities. She criticized the cancellation of a paratransit RFP, citing a dangerous incident where a driver refused to stop for a medical emergency because of schedule pressure. She demanded accountability and restoration of services, noting that the current contract is obsolete regarding civil rights. Chairwoman Higgins acknowledged the comment and promised a future discussion item on the RFP cancellation.
Discussion Items
- Interior Residential Road Speed Limits (Item 1F1): Commissioner Micky Steinberg raised the issue of allowing municipalities to lower speed limits to 20 mph on interior residential roads without county permission. She noted that demographic changes have made some 20 mph zones appropriate, but the county’s default of 25 mph may not suit all areas. Chairwoman Higgins supported the idea, stating that the county should eliminate itself as a barrier and allow municipalities to set lower limits, provided they enforce them. Commissioner Raquel Regalado added that reduced speed limits could help combat cut-through traffic from navigation apps like Waze. The committee agreed to have Commissioner Steinberg draft an item authorizing municipalities to go to 20 mph on interior roads, with a parallel effort for UMSA areas led by Commissioners Bastien and Bermudez. Director Stacey Miller noted that a traffic study is required under state law, but the county’s policy change would remove an additional hurdle. The item was deferred for drafting.
- Miami Freedom Park Pedestrian Bridge (Item 1F2): Chairwoman Higgins provided an update on the pedestrian bridge connecting the Metrorail/Tri-Rail station to the under-construction Miami Freedom Park soccer stadium. The project involves multiple agencies (county, airport, GMX, FDOT, City of Miami, FPL) and has a $5 million state appropriation. Developer representative Iris Iscar reported that a revised concept design, adjusted for GMX assets, is expected within two weeks. A multi-agency meeting will follow. The bridge is essential to avoid severe traffic congestion on 37th Avenue and 20th Street. Commissioner Juan Carlos Bermudez expressed concern about public subsidies for a private stadium, but acknowledged the progress. The committee will continue to monitor with a follow-up meeting planned for late summer.
Public Hearing
- Coral Gables/University Station Rapid Transit Subzone (Item 1G1 Substitute): Commissioner Raquel Regalado sponsored an ordinance to create a subzone around the University Metrorail Station, expanding the Rapid Transit Zone (Chapter 33C). The ordinance includes standards for development, pedestrian and cyclist infrastructure, and a requirement to negotiate a future interlocal agreement with the City of Coral Gables. Public speaker Jeff Burkow spoke in support, noting that the subzone will generate new transit riders and incremental tax dollars for local matching funds. The committee held a public hearing and voted 4-0 to forward the ordinance to the full Board with a favorable recommendation.
Key Outcomes
- The committee unanimously (4-0) forwarded the following items to the full Board of County Commissioners with favorable recommendations:
- Item 1G1 Substitute (Coral Gables/University Station Subzone)
- Item 2A (Resolution rescinding $1,800,000 allocation from Bond Project No. 368 and reallocating for roadway improvements near Lincoln Memorial Park Cemetery)
- Item 2B (Resolution directing application for federal funding for Glen Cove Roadway Resurfacing and Restoration)
- Item 3A (Resolution granting petition to close a portion of NW 12 Avenue, filed by Unique Space LLC)
- Item 3B Substitute (Resolution approving First Amendment to interlocal with GMX for Dolphin Station Park and Ride, reimbursing $8,218,816 in construction costs, and urging inside shoulder improvements)
- Item 3C (Resolution approving interlocal with Town of Miami Lakes for decorative street lighting at Cow Pen Road and Miami Lakes Drive)
- Item 3D (Resolution granting alley closure petition by Earlington West Apartments, LP)
- Item 3E (Resolution authorizing easement to Florida Power & Light for $1.00 to serve Brownsville Transit Village affordable housing)
- Item 3F (Resolution granting vacation of right-of-way petition P-1027 by Atlantic Civil, Inc., closing SW 152 Avenue and SW 157 Avenue)
- Item 3G (Resolution granting vacation of right-of-way petition P-1029 by EIP IV FL Round Hammock Land Co, LLC)
- Item 3H (Resolution approving First Amendment to off-system agreement with FDOT for improvements on Okeechobee Road)
- Item 3I (Resolution approving interlocal with Town of Miami Lakes for streetlights at NW 154 Street and NW 79 Court, at a cost of $120,000)
- Item 3J (Resolution approving Joint Participation Agreement with City of Miami Beach for mill and resurfacing of Dade Boulevard, up to $1,205,000)
- Item 3K (Resolution approving off-system agreement with FDOT for improvements on SR 944/NW 54th Street)
- Items 3L, 3M, 3N (Resolutions authorizing tri-party agreements with FDOT and SFRTA for railroad crossing traffic control devices at NW 21st Avenue, NW 19th Avenue, and NW 24th Avenue)
- Item 3O (Resolution approving contract award to Interstate Construction, LLC for North Miami Avenue Bridge replacement, not to exceed $6,608,865.63)
- Item 3P (Resolution approving contract award to Delka Innovo Group, Inc. for Metrorail bathroom rehabilitation, not to exceed $576,723.80)
- On the speed limit discussion, the committee directed Commissioner Steinberg to draft a policy item authorizing municipalities to set 20 mph speed limits on interior residential roads without county permission, and for UMSA areas to be addressed separately. The item will be brought back at a future meeting.
- On the pedestrian bridge, the committee received an update and will continue to monitor progress, with a follow-up meeting scheduled for late summer.
Meeting Transcript
All right. Um Madam Clerk, would you mind quickly calling the roll? Good morning. The clerk's office received notice that Senator Senator García would not be at today's meeting. Commissioner Bastian. Commissioner Bermudez. Vice Chairwoman Regalado. Chairwoman Higgins. Good morning. I am here. All right, everybody. Welcome to it's July, shockingly. We're halfway done through the year. Uh, to the transportation steering committee. If we could all um rise as we are able to consider um, I don't know, prayers, so many prayers for the people in Texas, especially for the family of David Lawrence, our beloved, beloved community member who lost two of his grandchildren in these horrible floods. When things happen so far away, sometimes that you think it can't affect our community, but it makes us feel more connected to the world around us. And so let us all in our own way pray for David, his family, and the souls of his two little granddaughters. Um, to the attorneys. Yes, madam chair. Uh, if no action is taken, yes, you may. No, we're well, we're taking action, we're recognizing people, but uh but I guess it's not a vote. All right. Well, good morning, everybody. As we uh like to do, usually once a quarter, um, we try to recognize uh some of our transit riders who are also uh more officially known as CITT ambassadors. And they are volunteers, they're also transit writers, and they share their experiences, the good and the bad, and provide feedback in real time uh to the to the CITT and to the department. So they're like our secret shoppers, uh, which is how we're able to improve our service. Um, so really appreciate them, and then of course, they um they do get a few little awards for uh for this work, but generally it's very, very well earned. So this morning I see the chair of our CITT, Robert Um, well, Farth Line to come on up and introduce us to this quarter's champions and also have your vent in court, and then we'll all probably go down to the well um to take a photo as well with uh Theo. Yes, uh, good morning, uh, Chair Higgins, and good morning, Commissioners, good morning, Transportation Committee members. Um, we're here today to celebrate and congratulate Theo Karen Salais. Uh, we recognize Theo Karen Salis as our CITT ambassador for the first quarter of twenty twenty-five. And in honor of your outstanding service, we're happy to present you with a beautifully engraved plaque that uh demonstrates your exceptional dedication. Um the plaque that you receive, um, you will also get five thousand points uh on your app. And uh our records show that during the first quarter of twenty twenty-five, you've completed feedback surveys on your transit rides, earning an impressive thirty-nine thousand one hundred and fifty points. And so this remarkable achievement makes you our top performer for the first quarter, and so thank you, Theo, for your unwavering service. Um before we take a picture, I think I'd just like to mention to our transportation writing public that if you are interested in becoming a CITT ambassador and serve like Theo has been serving for since 2003, top 23, uh, please visit our website at um day.gov slash the ITT. You can learn about the program, you can apply for an application, or you can contact our program coordinator, Cheryl Mitzell. Thank you all very much. Um Theo. Would you like to say a couple words? Yeah, please take a picture. Um, and then to the clerk, would you show Commissioner Bastian is here as well. Thank you. Thank you. To the counties transit board, the the CIT team, and and especially uh Javier and Cheryl for for for your leadership on on the people's transportation plan and and and the and the ambassador program. As a district leader for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, um, a peer advisory board member of the schizophrenia and psychosis action alliance, um, a presenter for Nami, Miami, and and vice chair of the county's commission on disability issues. Um, I I want to speak to the importance of this program and and the impact it has on those of us living with serious physical and and mental health challenges. Your your program give gives our disabled community a voice. And you've shown that that we belong and and and that together through service, we we we can affect change. True wealth is measured not by what we have, but by what we give.
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