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Post by Steve on Sept 27, 2006 17:58:20 GMT -5
As I rode down 107th on this corridore today, I was looking at how a streetcar would effect the roadway. You do mention how it makes no alocation for parking, but the businesses that would be effected by this already have parking lots that are not full yet anyways.
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Post by neiching on Sept 29, 2006 12:20:03 GMT -5
SWEEthingyER KaBoom!, Depot to build play setThe city of Sweethingyer is partnering with The Home Depot and KaBOOM! to design and build a $35,000 playground at a park off Southwest Fourth Street and 106th Avenue. BY JOSE CASSOLA jcassola@MiamiHerald.com
"Within the next two weeks, Miami-Dade Transit will be holding an east-west workshop on the proposed Metrorail expansion through Sweethingyer at the Jorge Mas Canosa Center, 250 SW 114th Ave.
On Sept. 20, Transit officials held a meeting at Florida International University, where the Sweethingyer Commission, residents and business owners voiced their disapproval of building a rail down Southwest 107th Avenue, which runs through the center of the city.
''It is not feasible to spend time and money on a project that will divide this community,'' resident Andre Martin said."
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Post by neiching on Oct 2, 2006 14:35:16 GMT -5
EditorialMetrorail should stop at 107th St. Issue date: 9/28/06 Section: Opinion As part of the FIU community, The Beacon supports the students and Student Government Association members who argued that the Metrorail station that is scheduled to arrive at FIU by 2015 should be located at SW 16th Street and 107th Avenue. The purpose of extending the Metrorail line to FIU in the first place is to facilitate, not encumber, transportation to and from the University. Placing the station on either side of the turnpike, as the City of Sweethingyer commission insisted, would altogether betray that purpose. Though the turnpike option on 117th Street would technically still stop near campus, it would not be as close to the main classroom buildings as the 107th Ave. station. This distance problem poses several serious inconveniences. Miami is a rainy city. On any given day, heavy rains or light showers are just as likely to start up unannounced. Under even the mildest rain, the long walk from 117th Street to the classroom buildings would become impractical. A station by the turnpike would also pose a security risk to FIU students. Unless more lightposts are placed on that side of campus, the path from buildings to the stop would most likely be dark and abandoned, a danger to students walking back from classes late at night. Placing the Metrorail station on 107th Avenue would not only benefit FIU students. A stop along this route would eventually end near the Miami-Dade County bus station located between UP and Tamiami Park. This would allow residents of Sweethingyer and nearby areas convenient access to the Metrorail service. Moreover, the 107th Avenue station would be closer to the Fair Expo Center. When the Dade County Youth Fair and Exhibition is up, fair attendees and FIU faculty and staff compete for parking. A Metrorail station close to the fairgrounds would alleviate traffic since less visitors would arrive by car, easing the situation for the FIU community. If Miami-Dade Transit is going to invest millions of dollars to extend the Metrorail line all the way to FIU, it should make its effort worthwhile. That means locating the Metrorail station next to the FIU campus, and not just its general vicinity. www.beaconnewspaper.com/media/storage/paper540/news/2006/09/28/Opinion/Editorial-2314725.shtml?norewrite200610021531&sourcedomain=www.beaconnewspaper.com
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Post by Steve on Oct 2, 2006 20:52:35 GMT -5
Just sent this in, hope they post it.....
As a student of FIU and someone who has attended the public meetings concerning the placement of the station as well as the alignment of the proposed East-West extension of Metrorail, I feel confident that the 107th avenue alignment is not the best choice for FIU or the overall community.
The City of Sweethingyer made it clear at the last public meeting that they do not want the rail line to pass down 107th avenue. Their chief concern is that the transit line would create yet another barrier right though the center of their community. Already 107th avenue is a wide horizontal divider of the city. Adding Metrorail down this alignment would add a vertical barrier as well. Additionally, in speaking with one of the consultants at the last public meeting, I found out that there is a right-of-way problem that must be overcome when following the 107th alignment that would drive the cost of the project up.
The City of Sweethingyer is not the only entity that could be adversely affected by Metrorail passing down 107th avenue. If the 107th avenue alignment were to be followed, the station at FIU would become an end-of-the-line station. Those stations tend to be the busiest stations on transit lines. The design for the 117th avenue station called for creation of parking for roughly 1,200 cars. Under the 107th avenue alignment, we would lose the parking lots south of 16th street and east of the parking garages and the Wertheim Performing Arts Center to transit parking. This alone creates several issues of great concern.
Security in the lot immediately to the East of the Wertheim Performing Arts Center is already a problem. On the UP campus alone during 2005 there were over 90 incidences of burglary or auto theft. By placing a Metrorail station on campus, the campus police would be stretched even thinner than they are already. As the closest police entity, no matter where the station is placed, it they would be the first responders. Placing the station on campus though, would open up out campus even more to outsiders who may be there for unjust reasons. Security alone is not enough to prohibit the construction of a rail station directly on campus though.
Traffic on campus would be adversely affected by a new transit station on FIU’s campus. During the beginning of the semester, traffic on campus is horrible. The University Police do an excellent job attempting to keep it moving, but it is very difficult with so many cars. If one imagines that traffic including transit related traffic, the image becomes one that is very frightening. This is not nearly as disturbing as the potential problems that parking would face.
Already parking is at a premium on campus. There have been several instances at the right time of day where parking is so bad that it is better to park across the street from the campus because parking is not able to be found. As mentioned earlier, FIU would lose two constantly filled parking lots to transit oriented parking. There is another thing that needs to be considered about this too though.
If one visits another end-of-the-line station on the current Metrorail system such as Dadeland South on any morning during the week, one can see how quickly that station fills with cars. When that happens, people travel the half a mile to the next station, Dadeland North and park there. When that lot fills, drivers end up parking in Dadeland Mall and Dadeland Station (the other mall)’s parking lots. If a station is built on campus, when the two proposed parking garages fill, drivers will instead park in campus parking. Since non-students basically get away with parking on campus without having to pay tickets right now, one can only imaging what parking would be like in the future should a station be built on campus. By placing the station on 117th avenue, the cars that are not parking in the parking garage instead can park in the park.
While I look at the pictures of where the proposed alignment would be down 107th avenue, I begin to really question the effects of putting this line down this alignment. I still question how an elevated line would affect the proposed lots for Greek Housing. As I look at the images, I see the lot sizes shrink drastically with the introduction of the rail line. Additionally, transit officials want to eventually extend Metrorail further south to the ever-growing Kendall area. The 107th avenue alignment does not make extending the line beyond FIU very feasible or practical. While there are some plusses to building a station on campus, there are many negatives one must consider with that alignment as well. It would not be aesthetically pleasing, it could be a security problem, it would be noisy, it would take our parking and add traffic to our campus, and it wouldn’t benefit the community in the future. All of this alone is reason enough to consider the turnpike/117th avenue alignments. When coupled with those arguments made by the City of Sweethingyer and its surrounding municipalities and communities, it becomes less and less practical or feasible to build a Metrorail alignment on 107th avenue.
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Post by Xpedition on Oct 3, 2006 8:58:39 GMT -5
I still strongly disagree with Steve on this one. But as always, everyone's entitled to his or her own opinion.
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Post by FIUFan on Oct 3, 2006 10:21:37 GMT -5
If you're looking at this in a holistic manner, the 107th line does not make much sense for the rest of Miami-Dade county. If you're looking at what is best for FIU, sure, let's get the state, county and national govt's to pay for something that will connect the Engineering and main campuses. But as Steve continues to explain, what may be marginally good for FIU (pluses with some big minuses) is not that good for everyone else. And a small, light rail system would be great for getting around campus.
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Post by neiching on Oct 3, 2006 14:17:21 GMT -5
If you build a light rail system just to get from one campus to another and loop around the City of Sweethingyer, who will pay for it? It does not do any good for the entire community. I have found a study that shows that property value usually rise near transit line. "MIAMI. Miami Metrorail. +5% higher rate of appreciation in real estate values near heavy-rail line compared to the rest of the city of Miami. Residential values positively impacted by announcement of new rail system. Higher priced neighborhoods near rail stations experience greater increases in property values. Source: “The Impact of the Miami Metrorail on the Value of Residences Near Station Locations,” Land Economics, 1993." Rail Transit Boosts Property Values
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Post by Xpedition on Oct 3, 2006 14:57:08 GMT -5
That's generally true in cities with good mass transit. The properties closer to stations are more valuable since you have a shorter walk to get to the train.
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Post by Steve on Oct 3, 2006 16:35:56 GMT -5
In any instance where you increase the mobility of the population, you increase both the potential for people to come into the community to spend money, as well as chances for residents to bring more money home with them. This is true for all forms of transit from busses to heavy rail (like metrorail) to bullet trains. The argument that I make is basically that we need to look to the expandability of the system in the future so that we can being the growth to other parts of the county as well.
If the city of sweethingyer were to have a small streetcar circulator, there could be multiple stops thus making it easier to move around within the community. With a heavy rail system, realistically only one stop would be feasable within sweethingyer. The city itself is only a mile long and a quarter mile wide. The suggested station distance for heavy rail is roughly half a mile. It is too big a system to benefit the small community.
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Post by Steve on Oct 3, 2006 16:54:06 GMT -5
The question of where funding for a streetcar system would come from is a pretty good one. One constant on construction projects is always the first question asked is how much it would cost.
Part of the People's Transportation Plan that was passed a while back (The half-cent sales tax for transit) called for a percentage to be allocated to municipalities to improve mobility and better the communities. A couple examples of communities utilizing that funding is teh City of Hialeah runs a circulator, as does the City of Coral Gables. These circulators run independantly by the communities and are not operated by the county. Other communities have used this funding to start feasability studies or institute traffic circles or traffic calming devices.
I made a graphical representation of how the line I would create would work and it can be found earlier in this thread. Basically I would put a small railyard building at the engineering campus (behind where the proposed buildings would be put) and then the line would follow the green alignment on the post.
Funding could come from several sources. In addition to the money coming from the People's Transportation Plan, FIU could front some money for the project since it would connect the two campuses. Additionally, FDOT has been running feasability studies on 107th avenue to reduce traffic specifically through sweethingyer. That being the case, FDOT could kick in some money for the project.
These numbers are completely preliminary estimates based on some research. I am sure there are more costs that I have not figured in, bear in mind I am a music major and not studying this field at all.
Rough system construction cost: $25 million per mile, system length = 2 miles (if there is a circulator built on campus as well)= $50 million
Assuming FDOT kicks in 50% construction costs, then we are looking at $25 million for construction.
If that total is split evenly between FIU and Sweethingyer, then we are looking at a cost of $12.5 million each. While this number is pretty high, the costs may justfy the means. Loans can be taken out and bonds issued. Additionally, make it cost money to ride. Just an on-campus circulator alone costing $0.50 a ride would raise a significant amount during the day. On game days, if you could park anywhere and get off at the stadium, that number goes up as well. Include the daily ride to the Engineering Campus and the elimination of the need for busses running that route and FIU students alone could help pay operating expenses. Include an easy way for Sweethingyer residents to get to walking distance from the Publix and you are talking another group of people who may ride.
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Post by Mike on Oct 3, 2006 19:07:38 GMT -5
My compliments to Steve for his research and interest in this subject. Let me add a few points. - Minibuses on public roads are run thru CG and would be an option until a loop around Sweethingyer was constructed.
- Regular buses are also used to connect multiple campus locations, much as we do.
- Light rail, in one direction, using small vehicles, properly landscaped and lighted can enhance both the campus and Sweethingyer.
- I would like to see the terminal station (light rail) constructed adjacent to the turnpike where there are options. The Engineering Complex real estate is irreplaceable and will be needed in the future.
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Post by Steve on Oct 3, 2006 21:19:12 GMT -5
When I thought of placing the rail yard/facility on the Engineering Campus, I did consult the master plan for that facility. Basically it would sit behind a building that is not yet built. I do like the idea of placing the terminus near the metrorail station wherever it may be built. This would add about a half mile (And subsequently roughly 12.5 million to the project construction total) if the station ends up being next to the turnpike, or almost double the cost if the proposed station at 107th and the 836 is used. To this extent, I think that following an alignment as prescribed would be ideal for the initial system with expandability in the future to one or both terminals.
Idealy, the city of sweethingyer would run mini busses on the proposed route now and charge a minimal fee (somewhere above free and less than $1). Advertisements can be sold both in and outside the busses for increased revinue. This would have to be advertised like crazy too so that it has more ridership. Eventually, the streetcar system could be built to follow this alignment. After a few years of operation, a new extension could then be made to the metrorail stations.
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Post by Mike on Oct 3, 2006 23:35:06 GMT -5
I believe the 117'th Street route is where the station will finally end up. At the 117'th Street station I expect they would build a transfer point between the train and the local loop train/minibus. There should be a point where a short spur could be added along 117'th/Turnpike right-of-way for a mini-train maintenance facility. [at the Government Center Station there is a transfer point between the Metromover and Metrorail ]
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Post by FIUFan on Oct 4, 2006 7:59:28 GMT -5
My light-rail point was basically to address the issue of not putting the station at the front door of FIU. In other words have a circulator, similar to Disney, that will take persons from the station on the west side of the campus to a central drop off point; say the Graham Center. Nothing fancy, just something that runs every 10 minutes and goes from one covered spot to another.
The Engineering/UP Campus circulator is a completely different animal in my view and should be handled completely separately from the Metro-rail line/FIU station issue.
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Post by BBB Student on Oct 4, 2006 11:08:21 GMT -5
My light-rail point was basically to address the issue of not putting the station at the front door of FIU. In other words have a circulator, similar to Disney, that will take persons from the station on the west side of the campus to a central drop off point; say the Graham Center. Nothing fancy, just something that runs every 10 minutes and goes from one covered spot to another. The Engineering/UP Campus circulator is a completely different animal in my view and should be handled completely separately from the Metro-rail line/FIU station issue. Can you explain this in a little bit more detail. It looks like you have a group of stations. Why would you want to put a station on the Engineering Campus when there are better options? (A better option is one which won't impact growth in this or the next century. If you don't think about the future there won't be one )
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