Found this great post on MiamiCars.com about FDOT deciding to address problems they created.
We agree! Motivated by greed and toll revenue FDOT really screwed the pooch on the Palmetto Expressway. The “express lanes” aka Lexus Lanes have created more traffic and lowered safety on an already dangerous highway.
Enough is enough! People can see through the Express Lane scam perpetuated by FDOT. First it was the I-95 Express Lanes, now the scourge of #Tollmageddon has reached the Palmetto 826 Expressway.
The Palmetto was perhaps the most dangerous highway in Miami-Dade County prior to FDOT adding express lanes, aka Lexus Lanes. They have now added a new layer of danger with these lanes. The facts are clear; FDOT has narrowed lanes from 12 feet to 11 feet and virtually eliminated the emergency breakdown lane on the inside lanes. Just like they did over 10 years ago on the I-95.
We are glad to see that state representatives Bryan Avila and Manny Diaz Jr. are taking action to protect motorist from high impact crashes that are perpetuated on highways with Express Lanes.
FDOT has once again demonstrated its ability to put public safety in second place and monetization in first place. Call it what you will: a money grab, highway robbery, toll scam, etc., FDOT did not make the road safer by adding these Express Lanes. They clearly, and we would say, intentionally compromised safety in order to create a new revenue stream from a highway that was built and maintained by gas and other transportation taxes.
How many times have we been fed this BS by the Florida Department of Transportation? “Express lanes increase travel speeds for both the toll payer and non-toll payer”, “Fatter and wider plastic delineator polls will fix the problem of lane diving”. Yada, yada, yada. If you pay for the study, you can make it say whatever you want. Its a lie no one believes anymore. Express lanes do not reduce traffic they create it by increase lane closures because of high impact crashes and fatalities.
“Too many accidents and not enough safety, this is what we’ve seen.”
Carlos Garcia
Miami Activist
Roll Back Tolls
