The Gift That Keeps on Taking.

The trauma of Truppman just won't quit.  This afternoon and evening, there was a "virtual" presentation and feedback session regarding plans for 6th Avenue.  FDOT was approached by some Commissioners and the Village manager in 2018, and they were asked to add sidewalks and other renovations to this avenue.  I doubt anyone needs me to do the arithmetic that calculates who were the Commissioners and the manager in 2018.  There was only one Commissioner and no manager during that year.  It was all Tracy Truppman.  One Village resident referred indirectly to Tracy, and used the word "rogue."

FDOT got on the case, in whatever is their way of considering renovations, and they have now submitted a proposal.  The proposal is to add sidewalks, create drainage, and add lighting.  The Village can choose to upgrade the lighting, and if that decision was made, the Village would pay the difference.  That difference was estimated to be about $400K.

In the meantime, various Village residents, especially residents who live on 6th Avenue, came up with their own plan.  They want to reduce 6th Avenue from four lanes to two, and add a bike lane.

FDOT made clear that none of this was going to happen.  What they didn't elaborate was that NE 6th Avenue is a state road -- it's SR 915 -- and it extends for 5.6 miles, from 186th St in North Miami Beach to about 88th St in Miami, where it merges with Biscayne Boulevard.  SR 915 is consistently a four lane road, and no one is going to convert it to a two lane road for the half mile in question.

But before I discuss this matter further, it's important to note not only that there are various practical reasons not to make the proposed and imagined changes, but more importantly, this whole scheme was hatched by one person: Tracy Truppman.  Tracy and almost all of her stooges have resigned, the so-called "manager" has been fired, and his replacement has also resigned.  The reason for all of this is that Village residents mutinied against a Commission and management that was grossly autocratic, and completely detached from what anyone in the Village wanted, as evidenced by things like secretly approaching FDOT (no open Commission discussion, and no workshops) to renovate 6th Avenue.  Without the tyranny of Tracy Truppman, which we rejected and overthrew, there is no 6th Avenue renovation scheme.

Probably no one ever had any idea about anything, and at least some people didn't like it.  A group of 6th Avenue Village residents formed, and they almost all loved the idea that the state wasn't offering (reducing from four lanes to two, widening the two remaining lanes, and adding a bike lane).  What became clear was they all bought properties on 6th Avenue, but they don't like living on 6th Avenue.  Too much traffic, too much speeding, too many accidents, not enough lighting,.  So, why did they buy...?   Well, we're not going to answer that question.  I'm reminded, though, of some mischief former Village resident Steve Bernard made several years back.  When some Village residents who lived very near the public works yard complained about their neighbor (the Village's public works facility, and the broken down garbage trucks, and whatever else), Steve dismissed their complaints saying they knew that facility was there when they bought their properties, and there was no reason they should be complaining.  But it wasn't long after that that Steve, who lived directly across the street from the basketball courts at the park, started complaining about the activity at the courts, wanted the baskets removed, and wanted a cul-de-sac built in front of his house, to end traffic (except his own).  And now, the people who bought properties on 6th Avenue want 6th Avenue reconstructed, so it isn't the same kind of street.  They want it to function like our interior streets, even though they didn't buy properties on those interior streets, and they likely paid less per sq ft for the properties they did buy, because they were on a busy street.  Which they now don't want to be a busy street any more.  Like the people who bought properties very close to the public works facility didn't want the public works facility to be like it was, and Steve Bernard bought a property next to the park and basketball court, which he no longer wanted to be the basketball court.  Where were all these insights when decisions were made about which property to buy?

The fact, as the state representatives made clear, is that the state is not going to change the character of SR 915 for the half mile that it runs through BP.  They're not going to reduce the number of lanes, widen those lanes, add crossing relief, narrow or widen the medians (both were suggested this afternoon/evening) or anything that changes the character of that piece of that road, or the experience of driving on it.  Nor should they.  It's a uniform state road for its 5.6 mile existence.  When we lowered the speed limit from 30 to 25 in the Village, that reduction applied to every street, except SR 915.  The limit there is still 30, and the only thing that changes that, which occurs in North Miami, is a school district, which results in a reduction to 15 mph for certain hours on school days.  There's traffic control on SR 915, at whatever points the state thinks it's needed.  They know what the accident pattern is.

There are many people who, when they want to buy a home for themselves, are very deliberate and insistent on not buying a home on a busy street.  And they won't have any trouble explaining why.  They'd rather pay more to be on a quiet street.  Or even more to be on a cul-de-sac.  Or even more than that to live in a gated community.  These are the choices we all make.  And people who decide they made the wrong choice move.

Nancy Davis, a 6th Avenue resident, told a shocking story.  On two occasions, a car has driven onto her property, and on one of those occasions, the car drove into the structure of her house.  From across the street!  And crossed a median!  No sidewalks or bike paths are going to stop that.  All they'll do is provide room for pedestrians and bicyclists who will get killed.

We live in a funky municipality.  It doesn't have all the bells and whistles other municipalities have.  There are almost no sidewalks, and the lighting is bad.  The streets are narrow.  The houses are somewhat close together.  That's why we pay less than the same property would cost in Miami Shores.  We can't remake SR 915.  It is what it is.  We can patrol it, and give out speeding tickets.  And we do.

If you have an opinion on this matter, feel free to call the moderator of today's session.  (He invited contact.)  His name is Rodolfo Roman, and his phone number is 786-519-7160.  He told this to us a few times.  And his e-mail address is roman@iscprgroup.com.  But he's not going to change anything.  It seemed that the flexibility was that if we wanted, for example, better lighting, but no sidewalks, we could have the state spend the money on the better lights, and not spend on sidewalks.  Or, one of the state people said, in response to a question, if we decide we don't want them to do anything, they won't.  I will say that with conditions changing, it does seem like a good idea to improve drainage, which was part of what the state was offering to do.