25th Street Will Be Widened to Seven Lanes.

With an investment of more than 51 million dollars

…………………

It is expected that this new project will be ready by 2024 and that this widening helps decrease the commuting times along this street that today has only five lanes

By: Edda Pujadas

Para leer en Español

DORAL, FL – A total of $51,750,000 were approved by the Miami Dade Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) to be used in the widening of NW 25^th Street, in Doral, from NW 117^th Avenue to NW 87^th Avenue.

This was informed by the TPO Communications Department, explaining that it was decided to amend the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for the Fiscal Year 2019 after a proposal from José, “Pepe” Díaz, Commissioner for District 12 and who is a member of the TPO Governing Board.

Commissioner “Pepe” Díaz considers that NW 25^th Street has intense traffic, especially during rush hours and therefore this widening project will bring big benefits to the drivers of Doral and in general, to all those that use this high impact street to commute in Miami Dade County.

This project, identified as #000910, will increase the capacity of NW 25^th Street and will improve commuting times because it will be widened from five to seven lanes. It will be financed in its entirety by the Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTPW) and it is expected to be finalized by the year 2024.

There have been other alternatives in the past that have been analyzed in order to reduce the traffic congestion along NW 25^th Street. We should remember that in 2016, the TPO conducted a study regarding the possibility of having reversible lanes along NW 25^th Street from NW 117^th Avenue and NW 87^th Avenue and along NW 36^th/41^st from the Florida Turnpike all the way until Palmetto (SR 826).

This study was finalized in 2018, but it was determined that if implemented, it would, in fact, increase the commuting times in both directions East and West. During morning rush hours, the Westbound commute was 12 minutes and in the evening rush hours, the increase was even more dramatic to 32 minutes.

Juan Carlos Bermudez, Mayor of Doral and a member of the Governing Board of the TPO, explained after it was determined the reversible lanes option was not feasible, that it was decided to widen 25^thStreet.  Given that this enlargement does not restrict the access to residential properties or adjacent businesses, it increases the vehicular capacity through additional lanes.

“Two years ago, I committed to getting a seat for the City of Doral in the TPO, because I knew that it was a crucial step in the ability to significantly improve the transportation policies that affect our city,” stated Mayor Bermudez and added that the approval of this project reaffirms the importance to work with the members of the Governance Board to find solutions that help alleviate the traffic issues in Doral and South Florida in general.

Bermudez also mentioned two additional road projects; the extension of NW 82^nd Avenue between NW 27^th and NW 33^rd Streets and the widening of NW 102^nd Avenue between NW 66^th and NW 74^th Streets, both of which will improve the traffic within Doral.  It is estimated that these two projects will be finalized by next year.

“In Doral, we have many closed communities that interrupt the free flow of traffic, and the widening of both NW 82^nd and NW 102^nd Avenues are going to help us colossally in our internal traffic issues, especially during weekdays and in rush hours,” commented the City Mayor.

For Doral, the widening of these three streets means not only an improvement on traffic flow and less traffic congestion but also a boost to the economic development of the city as it eases the access to existing businesses and at the same time, stimulates the creation of new projects because there are more road options.