October 05, 2013

Florida Turnpike's Proposed Killian Parkway Ramp: The Creation of Designer Roadways

The Board attended the second public hearing that was facilitated by Florida Representative Frank Artiles on Oct 3rd. From what we learned at their presentation and what we already knew, the Board spoke out in opposition to the project as it would have an adverse affect in our and other surrounding communities.  What we have learned is very disturbing and we urge you to contact Rep. Frank Artiles and express your concerns.   We also urge you to visit http://rollbacktolls.com get more information related to the proposed Killian Parkway ramp as well as their Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rollbacktolls to voice your concerns.  It is important to also remember, that this not only affects us at Devon-Aire Villas, but all surrounding communities.  Please pass this on to anyone that you know will be affected.


This is what we knew up until October 3rd.  On August 15th we were notified by Devon-Aire PTSA, that they were made aware a proposed Turnpike Ramp right in the middle of a residential area.  Apparently FDOT held a public hearing on August 6th at a meeting place in Bird Road about 10 miles away from the affected area and did not adequately notify local residents which would explain why only 5 residents showed up to that meeting.  They later claimed on the Oct 3rd meeting, that they sent out 67,000 mailings to alert the community of the project which is not true.  When the DAK8 PTSA notified local residents, many were very mad because of the lack of information regarding the project and secondly the proximity to the school and surrounding homes.  To put things in perspective:

  • The proposed ramp will be constructed at the top of the turnpike overpass.
  • DAK8 is just 300 yards away from Killian Parkway.
  • DAK8 is about 600 yards away from the proposed ramp.
  • Between the proposed ramp, there are already two traffic signals to which they propose to add a third right traffic signal at the top of the overpass.  That would mean that all three signals will be about 400 yards apart which will slow traffic further.
  • That would of course further congest an already congested roadway, slow down traffic more and make things even more dangerous for pedestrian, joggers, children, etc... which either cross Killian or use the overpass on a daily bases to get to and from the 117th Ave shopping center.
  • The new proposed ramp would be another accident magnet.  Any accident occurring on this ramp will trap cars between 122nd Ave & 117th Ave traffic lights with no way of escape.  That will of course only serve to further back up traffic as their are no routes that can get around that area without heading towards Kendall Drive or 120th St.
  • Traffic on Killian Parkway in morning rush hour already extends to 137th Ave in the morning alone.
What I have listed above however is something you hear all the time when communities try to fight roadway expansions.  We contacted Representative Frank Artiles office when we first learned of the project and he was successful in facilitating the Oct 3rd hearing, but FDOT again did very little to communicate this new meeting to affected residents.  With some word of mouth and some community involvement we did get a lot of people show up, but the FDOT still provided little information or provided few answers to those attending.  What we did learn there really pales in caparison to what we now know about the project and how a State Government that claims they are pro consumer are actually attempting to gouge their own citizens.  So here is what we now know:

The Turnpike is a very congested roadway and the FDOT has done nothing to add new expressway systems further west as the population expanded there over time.  That of course leads to mass congestion in existing expressways.  Their solution for the Turnpike is to add designer express lanes on an already tolled system.

  • The ramp they want to add to Killian would only be for access to an express lane system within the Turnpike expressway.
  • The proposed Killian parkway ramp alone is set to cost over 26 Million dollars.
  • The cost for this one way ride on the express lanes can be tolled up to 6 dollars for a one way non-stop ride to the 836 with some stating that over time that dollar figure can go up.
  • There are already two ramps within 3 miles of each other which sit between the proposed Killian Parkway ramp in non-residential areas of which FDOT is refusing to consider for these express lanes. That would be the ramps at Kendall Drive & SW 120th St.
  • Each of these two existing ramps receive about 45,000 cars daily, but this proposed ramp is only expected to receive 7,000 vehicles which would use these express lanes.
So therein lies the problem.  The FDOT is catering to the more affluent in the community which would be willing to shell out up to 6 dollars a trip while the rest of those using this toll road would remain stuck in traffic.  We, just like those who can afford this exorbitant toll, have to go to work everyday to feed their families but can not afford to spend up to $240 a month on a gouging toll.  The FDOT has chosen to create designer roadways for the more affluent in the community to bypass the less affluent.  This is outrageous and it’s not what the government should be doing.

What I described above is a trend that State Governments nation wide, pinched for cash, will being doing more of.  We are just the guinea pigs in this very expensive & ill conceived experiment.  RollBackTolls took video of the the Oct 3rd meeting and will be placing segments of the meeting online soon.  Please contact 
Florida Representative Frank Artiles to express your concerns.


About Devon-Aire Villas #1

This blog serves the residents of Devon-Aire Villas # 1 which is a community consisting of 302 town homes on 45 acres of land, 15 acres of which is open common areas, located on SW 122nd Ave & SW 111th St in Miami, Florida.

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Devon-Aire Villas # 1 is managed by Scott Galya at Brickell Property Management. You can reach Scott Galya as well as the Board of Directors via our Contact Us Page, by email at , by leaving voice mail or a text message at (305) 859-1462. If you would like to send US Mail, you can find our mailing address on our Contact Us page. When contacting us, please provide your full name and property address so we can better serve you. Should you need pass by the office, please schedule an appointment by contacting us by email.

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