MIAMI (WSVN) - Longer morning commute slowdowns are now the new reality for South Florida drivers heading to downtown Miami, Brickell or the Beaches, at least until 2023.
A five-year, multimillion-dollar reconstruction project that kicked off this week began causing traffic trouble in Miami-Dade County due to a lane closure on a southbound on-ramp connecting Interstate 95 to eastbound Interstate 395 just north of downtown Miami.
Traffic cameras captured bumper-to-bumper traffic along southbound I-95 as far back as the Northwest 103rd Street exit in Northwest Miami-Dade, just after 8 a.m., Tuesday.
“It’s going to be at least a 54-minute ride from the Golden Glades [Interchange] into the downtown area,” said a traffic reporter.
Drivers heading eastbound to the MacArthur Causeway from southbound I-95 will only be able to use one lane instead of two on the ramp.
The $802 million redesign includes double decking part of the State Road 836 over the Miami River and a bridge over Biscayne Boulevard onto I-395, as well as lane widening and a park below the Biscayne bridge.
When asked about the massive undertaking, drivers said they are skeptical about how effective it will be.
“It sounds like we have a lot more things than the 836 that we need to be fixing before we plan on putting a metal sphere above traffic,” said a driver.
But state and local transportation officials said the project will relieve congestion and bottlenecking. They said it will also improve safety.
But local motorists remain unconvinced.
“It’s not going to work,” said a driver as he sped away.
“They should take the $800 million and divide it into all the transit systems and put main veins, so we don’t have to drive and have the congestion in this country,” said another driver.
The reconstruction project made the annual list of top five expensive, unnecessary and counterproductive highway projects in the U.S. by the nonprofit U.S. Public Interest Research Group.
“We have hurricanes and rain and wind that’s gonna cause so much trouble that I don’t think it’s worth it, personally,” said a driver.
Traffic officials advised drivers to add extra time to their commutes because of the detours and road closures planned throughout the five-year interval.
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