A Miami-Dade commission reached a resolution Tuesday to open a controversial bridge between Miami Lakes and Hialeah. The bridge is located along Northwest 154th Street and crosses over Interstate 75.
The resolution was similar to one passed in 2017, when then county commissioner Esteban Bovo made a resolution about the Northwest 170th Street bridge.
That bridge also caused much controversy between Miami-Dade County, Miami Lakes and Hialeah and remains closed to this day.
The town of Miami Lakes is now awaiting a decision from the Third District Court of Appeals. Right now, it’s a waiting game on whether or not the 170th Street bridge will be open for traffic.
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Miami-Dade County and Hialeah want the bridge to open. The town of Miami Lakes says 'no way’ unless other stipulations are met. Residents and jurisdictions alike can’t seem to come to an agreement on what’s best for this Miami Lakes bridge.
Now, the fate of the bridge is in the hands of the court as of January 18, 2022. The appeal comes after a Miami-Dade County judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Miami Lakes to stop construction of the bridge.
However, the town says the judge didn’t consider the terms of a 2003 road transfer agreement.
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“The county, after we’ve spent millions of dollars on these roads, is saying what the agreement says is not necessarily what was meant or what we’re allowed to do,” said Raul Gastesi, attorney for Miami Lakes.
In that agreement, the county shifted control and ownership over municipal streets to the town which includes NW 170th Street. The issue is a portion of the bridge is in the town and the other in the county. The bridge wars could come to an end if they can compromise.
“When those improvements get made, then we’d be hard pressed to object the opening of NW 170th Street,” Gastesi said.
Those improvements include construction of on-ramps onto the Gratigny Expressway at NW 67th Avenue and NW 87th Avenue, underpasses be built underneath the Palmetto Expressway at NW 146th Street and NW 160th Street and completion of the entrance ramp onto the Florida's Turnpike at NW 170th Street.
