Walkers and cars clash on Brickell

On booming Brickell Avenue, pedestrians must dodge cars to get across the street, but a big state resurfacing project contemplates few improvements for them.

BY ANDRES VIGLUCCI
aviglucci@MiamiHerald.com

Along Miami's Brickell Avenue, a tower-lined urban boulevard booming with thousands of new office workers and condo residents, jaywalking and car-dodging is the order of the day -- and often the only convenient way to get across the busy street on foot.

The sight of people in business attire bushwhacking through the thickly planted median in the city's premier commercial district has become commonplace. Women pushing baby strollers must break into a jog to avoid onrushing autos. To get from bus stop to work, transit riders are often forced into the Brickell four-lane dash.

Don't blame the pedestrians, though.

According to city planners and elected officials, residents and activists, the reason is simple: Brickell Avenue, the spine of Miami's densest pedestrian district, lacks sufficient marked crosswalks and traffic signals.

But according to the Florida Department of Transportation and its traffic-engineering manuals, that's not reason enough to undertake substantial pedestrian-friendly changes on Brickell.

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People and most important, COMPANIES, look at livability when deciding where to locate their operations. Livability means having alternate forms of transportation. Good grief, especially in a climate that allows those alternate forms of transport to be utilized throughout the year! At some point, economic development folks should chime in on these types of issues.