Image Credit: John Vanbeekum- The obvious headline story today is Miami-Dade County’s decision to purchase 136 new rail cars for metrorail due to MDT’s prior negligence in maintaining the existing fleet (WTG Roosevelt! I’m so proud of that name clearing hearing the County held in your honor.) Larry Lebowitz wrote a phenomenal Herald watchdog report covering nearly every aspect of this story. Aside from the obvious maintenance issues, we’re disappointed to see that the PTP will be raided again to fix issues which should have been resolved with other funds. The County commissioners have repeatedly abused the intended purpose of the PTP and have all but rendered the CITT useless. At the current rate, the PTP will be milked to fix past screw ups, provide free transit use for veterans, and various other road (vehicular) projects which have passed under the radar. Doesn’t anyone care?
- Meanwhile, the metromover will be receiving its own new vehicles sometime over the next year at a cost of $26 Million PTP dollars. That’s another $26 Million less for new rail projects in case you are wondering. Bombardier will be building the 12 new cars and is slated to be asked to build an additional 17 cars for another $34 Million. Note: should the county back out of the additional 17 cars by July, taxpayers will pay Bombardier $1 million. Who negotiates these contracts? This must be like taking candy from a baby for the Bombardier Sales team.
- Turkey Point is one step closer to receiving another nuclear reactor.
- The “plan” to continue fragmenting the County into more bureaucratic layers of fat is progressing nicely with Palmetto Bay’s desire to annex the Falls neighborhood.
- We’re #1! Forbes magazine has named Miami America’s cleanest City. I highly doubt the achievement is a result of any of our own doing but rather the result of Florida’s flat geography. In any case, our air is clean, whatever that means.
- New Bike Lockers are appearing on Tri-Rail, making eco-commuting an easy alternative…
- Museum park gets a new, cheaper design and finally wins city commission approval…
- Miami-Forum covers the Downtown Foam fest caused by a Sony production commercial shoot…
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At least the Falls is being annexed into Palmetto Bay rather than forming yet another tiny municipality. Of course many residents are complaining that it will make PB too large and would prefer a smaller “closer to the people” (and of course completely useless) Falls municipality.
If they want to annex more property so much, why not pick up the Palmetto Estates and Perrine too? If anything, those neighborhoods that are currently unincorperated would make more sense since they are right next to the Villiage as it is. Picking those up would then justify picking up part of the falls area in my opinion.
Agreed. Sadly most incoporations are done along ethnic and economic lines. The end result will be all the poorer areas under County control and all the afluent areas will be independent municipalities.
Minor correction on the Turkey Point nuclear plant:
It’s two reactors. Units six and seven.
At least it’s not more fossil-fueled units.
Not to nitpick on Metrorail, but I asked someone I know who used to work in their maintenance facility why they don’t run the trains at 70mph anymore. (For those who were around when they first opened the line, top speed was 70, now it’s between 55 and 58mph).
He laughed, and then told me that shortly after they opened, the county found that the vendor hadn’t accounted for wear of the wheels in the design of the electric motors. When the wheels wear, the motors have to spin faster to deliver faster speeds…
Faster speed was causing the motors to wear faster, increasing the amount of maintenance required. Or the motors would fly apart.