Critics, backers disagree on Port of Miami tunnel plans
BY ALFONSO CHARDY
Proponents of the ambitious $1 billion plan to build a tunnel connecting the Port of Miami to the MacArthur Causeway envision an engineering masterpiece that would loosen up the bottleneck of truck traffic plaguing downtown Miami.
Opponents say it's not a masterpiece but a morass in the making.
They cite what they believe are two major problems: the planned entrance and exit ramps are too steep for heavy trucks to negotiate and hazardous materials restrictions would further limit the number of trucks capable of using the tunnel.
Not so, says Gus Pego, the state transportation agency's chief in Miami. He said the inclines have been tested and that hazardous materials restrictions will only affect a small percentage of trucks.
The Miami Herald asked trucking and engineering experts to review tunnel design documents available on the project's website, http://portofmiamitunnel.com/.
Clayton W. Boyce, spokesman for the American Trucking Associations, said, ``The 5 percent grade is not a problem. Federal regulations put the maximum slope on the interstate system at 7 percent so that trucks can handle climbing as well as starting on any percent slope below that.''
Matthew D. Ubben, a spokesman for the Florida Trucking Association, said his organization was not aware of any safety issue regarding the tunnel ramps -- and noted that he did not believe trucks would have a problem using the facility.
Moreover, Pego said, the existing Port Boulevard bridge -- which thousands of trucks use every day to reach the port -- has a 5 percent grade incline.
Still, critics say the incline is too steep.
''The short distance and height of the MacArthur Causeway would make the incline entering and exiting the tunnel very steep and therefore dangerous for tractor-trailer trucks with full loads,'' Miami-Dade County Commissioner Joe Martinez wrote in a recent letter to state Transportation Secretary Stephanie Kopelousos.
Prohibited hazardous materials, Martinez added, could further reduce the number of trucks using the tunnel. As a result, Martinez wondered: ``How many trucks will not be able to use the tunnel?''
Port officials said that up to 20 percent of the containers that go through the port fall under the broad federal designation of hazardous materials. But they added that the number of trucks that could be excluded from the tunnel would probably be lower than 20 percent because more precise safety guidelines will be prepared in advance of tunnel completion. Slightly more than 6,000 trucks travel to the port on an average daily basis, port officials said.
While the 2007 deal to build the project is now dead, the Florida Department of Transportation last week said it plans to invite new bids from private firms worldwide to build the tunnel. The original design with steep grades is still valid even with the delay and the new bidding process.
Though the tunnel will be open to all traffic, transportation officials are targeting large cargo trucks and tractor trailers, which now clog downtown streets as they move between the port and area expressways. Trucks headed to the port also frequently back up on the Port Boulevard bridge linking the port to Biscayne Boulevard and downtown streets.
Port officials believe the tunnel would provide improved access to the port because it would add the first direct highway connection between area expressways and the port.
Port tunnel critics have raised concerns before.
Last year, Terry Dale, president and chief executive officer of Cruise Lines International Association, wrote a letter to The Miami Herald saying that the cruise industry does not support the tunnel plan because it's too complex and not all questions about it have been answered.
''Does anyone have confidence that we can accomplish this incredible engineering feat despite our history with major construction?'' Dale wrote. ``It strains credibility to suggest that there will be no safety or cost problems.''
As currently envisaged, the tunnel would run under Government Cut's main shipping channel between Watson Island -- which the MacArthur Causeway crisscrosses -- and Dodge Island, where the port is located. It would also cut under the cruise ships' berthing area.
The distance the tunnel would cover is relatively short between the two islands -- less than a mile from portal to portal.
Plans actually call for two tunnels, one carrying traffic to the port and the other from the port -- along separate two-lane ramps. The twin tubes containing the tunnels then would connect to the causeway and Port Boulevard.
BY ALFONSO CHARDY
Proponents of the ambitious $1 billion plan to build a tunnel connecting the Port of Miami to the MacArthur Causeway envision an engineering masterpiece that would loosen up the bottleneck of truck traffic plaguing downtown Miami.
Opponents say it's not a masterpiece but a morass in the making.
They cite what they believe are two major problems: the planned entrance and exit ramps are too steep for heavy trucks to negotiate and hazardous materials restrictions would further limit the number of trucks capable of using the tunnel.
Not so, says Gus Pego, the state transportation agency's chief in Miami. He said the inclines have been tested and that hazardous materials restrictions will only affect a small percentage of trucks.
The Miami Herald asked trucking and engineering experts to review tunnel design documents available on the project's website, http://portofmiamitunnel.com/.
Clayton W. Boyce, spokesman for the American Trucking Associations, said, ``The 5 percent grade is not a problem. Federal regulations put the maximum slope on the interstate system at 7 percent so that trucks can handle climbing as well as starting on any percent slope below that.''
Matthew D. Ubben, a spokesman for the Florida Trucking Association, said his organization was not aware of any safety issue regarding the tunnel ramps -- and noted that he did not believe trucks would have a problem using the facility.
Moreover, Pego said, the existing Port Boulevard bridge -- which thousands of trucks use every day to reach the port -- has a 5 percent grade incline.
Still, critics say the incline is too steep.
''The short distance and height of the MacArthur Causeway would make the incline entering and exiting the tunnel very steep and therefore dangerous for tractor-trailer trucks with full loads,'' Miami-Dade County Commissioner Joe Martinez wrote in a recent letter to state Transportation Secretary Stephanie Kopelousos.
Prohibited hazardous materials, Martinez added, could further reduce the number of trucks using the tunnel. As a result, Martinez wondered: ``How many trucks will not be able to use the tunnel?''
Port officials said that up to 20 percent of the containers that go through the port fall under the broad federal designation of hazardous materials. But they added that the number of trucks that could be excluded from the tunnel would probably be lower than 20 percent because more precise safety guidelines will be prepared in advance of tunnel completion. Slightly more than 6,000 trucks travel to the port on an average daily basis, port officials said.
While the 2007 deal to build the project is now dead, the Florida Department of Transportation last week said it plans to invite new bids from private firms worldwide to build the tunnel. The original design with steep grades is still valid even with the delay and the new bidding process.
Though the tunnel will be open to all traffic, transportation officials are targeting large cargo trucks and tractor trailers, which now clog downtown streets as they move between the port and area expressways. Trucks headed to the port also frequently back up on the Port Boulevard bridge linking the port to Biscayne Boulevard and downtown streets.
Port officials believe the tunnel would provide improved access to the port because it would add the first direct highway connection between area expressways and the port.
Port tunnel critics have raised concerns before.
Last year, Terry Dale, president and chief executive officer of Cruise Lines International Association, wrote a letter to The Miami Herald saying that the cruise industry does not support the tunnel plan because it's too complex and not all questions about it have been answered.
''Does anyone have confidence that we can accomplish this incredible engineering feat despite our history with major construction?'' Dale wrote. ``It strains credibility to suggest that there will be no safety or cost problems.''
As currently envisaged, the tunnel would run under Government Cut's main shipping channel between Watson Island -- which the MacArthur Causeway crisscrosses -- and Dodge Island, where the port is located. It would also cut under the cruise ships' berthing area.
The distance the tunnel would cover is relatively short between the two islands -- less than a mile from portal to portal.
Plans actually call for two tunnels, one carrying traffic to the port and the other from the port -- along separate two-lane ramps. The twin tubes containing the tunnels then would connect to the causeway and Port Boulevard.
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