Miami — BayLink Study

Rail Transit Online, April 2003

Miami Beach commissioners have until mid-July to decide whether they will support BayLink, a proposed $400-million light rail connection between South Beach and downtown Miami.  The 120-day deadline was set on Mar. 12 by the regional Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), which needs to decide whether to go ahead with the rail project with or without help from Miami Beach.  The MPO has indicated it may forget about BayLink if Miami Beach decides it doesn’t want the system and instead use the money to build other projects around the region.  In response, Beach commissioners on Mar. 19 voted unanimously to seek a consultant who would study the proposal.  “We want to look at it for ourselves,” Commissioner Matti Bower told The Miami Herald.  However, officials estimate they won’t be able to hire anyone for about 60 days, leaving just two months to complete the analysis and issue a report.  Beach commissioners had been scheduled to make a decision on their portion of the BayLink route Mar. 10 but postponed a vote because they felt an expanded alignment through Mid- and North Beach should be considered.  As now planned, the line would run along Alton Road, Dade Boulevard and Washington Avenue.  '”We'll do it on our own schedule, in our own way,” Miami Beach Mayor David Dermer, who opposes BayLink, told the Herald.  But Commissioner Simon Cruz said such a cavalier attitude could have a domino effect and block federal funding for other badly needed community projects.  “The timeline is not this issue,” said Cruz.  “The issue is do we want it or not?”