The Miami Beach Commissioners Meeting on July 23, 2014 included a discussion of the West Bridge construction project.  After the head of the Transportation Department introduced details on the upcoming endeavor, a couple of very articulate Venetian Way neighbors provided public comment to the Commissioners, unwavering in their demand that the East Bridge remain locked down throughout the project.

During the six to nine months (or more) of the West Bridge construction, the Venetian Way residents will have only a single East Bridge access on and off of the Islands. Residents would like the East Bridge to be locked down to boaters (therefore not ever raising the bridge), and all boaters routed through the West Bridge, which will be open 24 hours a day throughout this process.

In this context, the “locked-down” argument is gaining traction from the mere fact that our East Bridge recently FAILED 3 times – and once for several hours. Imagine if this would happen while we are totally dependent on that bridge to enter or exit our neighborhoods.

The conclusion of this matter was that Mayor Phillip Levine and City Manager Jimmy Morales are now going to propose lock-down of the East Bridge to Miami/Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez at an upcoming lunch.

While it was clear that all of the commissioners are informed and on board on the preference for a complete lock-down of our East Bridge, there remains an aura of “it’s not really in our power, but in the hands of Miami-Dade County and the Coast Guard.”  A couple of commissioners even suggested that Venetian Way residents should lobby our respective County Commissioners themselves.

The truth is that OUR city officials have the power, contacts, and a very persuasive argument for bridge lock-down, and should aggressively take the lead in the discussions with the county officials.

We recommend that all interested residents continue to convey to our persuasive Mayor, Commissioners, and City Manager to take absolute leadership on this at the County level and with the Coast Guard, and that our officials only support the position that there is NO OPTION and no room for discussion other than a complete East Bridge lock-down during the construction of the West Bridge.

VIHA will continue to lobby the lock-down only position.

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Venetian Way Bridges Weight Limit Update!

At this same meeting it was mentioned that the East Bridge weight limit was about to be raised from 11 tons to 16 tons by the county. We will keep you posted on this too.

VIHA was officially represented at this meeting by Ahmad Khamsi, Board Member.

Dear Venetian Causeway Neighbors,

We are pleased to announce that the transition to SunPass is tentatively scheduled for Friday, August 29, 2014. When the conversion is complete, drivers will have improved travel time and traffic flow across the Causeway. Please be advised that in order to avoid per trip or Toll-By-Plate charges, each motorist must have a SunPass transponder. For annual plan holders, their account will be linked to their SunPass account so that they will not incur any additional charges.

In an effort to keep you informed of the progress:

ü A letter has been sent to all current annual plan holders to obtain their SunPass transponder numbers
ü All plan holder accounts will be updated with the SunPass transponder data
ü Flyers and other informational material will be distributed in the lanes and available at the Venetian Customer Service Center
ü Signage announcing the change will be in place
ü E-mail address tolls@miamidade.gov has been established to address questions and concerns

We will provide additional updates as needed.

Thank you,

Causeways Division

Kudos to Lorin Jetter of Eloy Carmenate Group for designing our website, aided by our Secretary Clarisa Brignone and our Treasurer Janet Khamsi, as well as the technical support from Michael Fryd.

Undergrounding

As you will see below, we are starting with the major announcement that we have filed a Petition with the Miami Dade Special Taxing District for UNDER-GROUNDING the Dilido – and San Marino Islands.

Apart from FP&L, the job will also involve AT&T and ABB using the same trench in for their lines. Some of us will come around this weekend collecting signatures as a 50% majority is required for approval.

We estimate the approval process to take about 6 months and then we need to get a timeline from FP&L. Our intent is to fold this job into our ongoing Streetscape in order to avoid additional digging and disorder.

For further info, please click here to read our letter explaining the project and answering questions from residents.

Security

We are also trying to finalize the installation of LPRs ( license plate readers) on the Venetian Causeway and are looking into the pricing for Security Cameras on each of our islands.

Click here for further explination.

At the Commission Meeting on the 11th, we complained to the Administration that is has taken more than a year to get these cameras installed. The City Manager and the Public Works Director are now involved to get this completed asap.

We will keep you informed as these other projects get closer to completion.

Upcoming Bridge Closure

Last but not least: our bridges!

As you have heard, the Western most part of the bridge will be completely rebuilt from ground-up. Start Date was to be Sept/Oct and duration 6 months ( let’s say a year).

Ahmad Khamsi and I went to the Commission Meeting on the 11th twice to express our concern and made 2 suggestions:

a. hold all bridge construction until at least the Alton Road project is finished and

b. once the bridge construction starts in April/May of 2015, change the Bridge Openings on the Easter Bridge ( near Belle Isle) during weekends to the same as on weekdays: on the half-hour and on the hour.