Mayor & Council Discuss Malbrook Traffic Situation

From the Village of Palmetto Bay:

Posted on: September 17, 2019

Thanks to the stewardship of our Mayor & Council and our County Commissioner who continue to advocate for our residents, Malbrook residents will soon get some relief to their traffic situation. Mayor Cunningham and Village staff, along with Sean McCrackine and Maria Levrant from County Commissioner Levine Cava’s office met with representatives from Miami-Dade County Transportation and Public Works Department and Marlin Engineering, the Village’s traffic engineering firm, to discuss the traffic solutions proposed for the Malbrook neighborhood area.

The Malbrook neighborhood encompasses the area bordered by SW 87th Avenue to SW 84th Avenue and SW 168th Street to SW 181st Street. Morning rush hour commuters have substantially impacted the quality of life for these residents due to high volumes of cut-through traffic. Drivers looking to avoid SW 87th Avenue often use SW 84th Avenue or SW 86th Avenue as alternates. These neighborhood streets were not intended to be major arterial roads and the traffic situation is overwhelming for residents.

Previously, county staff had requested a traffic study to substantiate the request made by the Village. The results were discussed during yesterday’s meeting and the outcome appears to be positive for Malbrook. The county will be reviewing the traffic study results in more detail and may provide a final determination as early as next week.

The solutions proposed to drastically reduce cut-through traffic for Malbrook include:

• a dedicated right tun lane from SW 87th Avenue onto SW 168th Street
• permanent installation of “no-right turn” signs along SW 87th Avenue for eastbound traffic
• a traffic circle for the intersection of SW 174th Street and SW 87th Avenue*

*Palmetto Bay had previously requested a county review of the intersection at SW 174th Street and 87th Avenue, following several major accidents. The county found that a traffic circle at this location should drastically reduce the number of accidents at the intersection.

Once funded and built, the solutions proposed will provide relief to the Malbrook community by significantly reducing the current vehicular traffic that residents are forced to deal with on a daily basis. We are grateful for the collaboration and assistance provided to us by the Miami-Dade Transportation and Public Works Department and look forward to a favorable outcome for our residents. #TeamPB #PBalwaysworkingforyo

This press release was produced by the Village of Palmetto Bay. The views expressed here are the author’s own.