At first glance this picture may not excite you. It excites me. I'll tell you why.
This is a brand new traffic light at the corner of SW 200 Street and 137 Avenue. It was sorely needed! It was fully functional sometime in May. There was only one STOP sign there before. The traffic on 200th had the right of way. I felt bad for everyone on 137th avenue trying to join the crowd.
When I first moved to Miami, I lived a little north of the Redlands, where I live now. I used this particular intersection every single day to drive my kids to school and get to work.
I quickly discovered that if you didn't have an extra 20 minutes to spare and had to stop at this intersection, you were going to be late! It was impossible to get onto 200th Street from 137th Avenue during rush hour. They say necessity is the mother of invention. Well, I needed to get where I was going on time and I invented a new route for myself. I had it down to a science. As I approached 200th street if I saw the cars were backed up I would turn before I got there and do a series of turns until I got to 200th street but at another avenue. This required that I go through a residential area. I wasn't the only one doing it. I am sure those homeowners would have preferred the extra traffic stayed off their streets.
Where I used to make the turn onto 200th it got a little "hairy" sometimes to zoom onto the street. I even had a little cartoon car racing sound I made as I made the turn. The kids knew to be quiet when I did this. I needed to focus and make sure I zoomed out there at just the right moment. There was traffic going both ways on 200th and I did not want to become another accident statistic. Nobody should have to do this to get to work on time. I'm glad the powers that be realized this and did something about it. That turning lane wasn't even there back then. It was one lane, one stop sign and every man (and woman) fending for himself!
It's funny, I still use this intersection all the time but not from the avenue. So in essence the addition of the traffic light has slowed me down as I head east on 200th street. It's still a good thing. I'm sure to the commuters trying to get onto the busy 200th street it is a very big and welcome deal.
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Maggie Dokic, SFR is a licensed real estate broker in the state of Florida selling residential real estate in Miami, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, Coral Gables, Gables by the Sea, High Pines, the Redland and other select areas of SW Miami-Dade County.
Maggie has earned her SFR certification to be able to better serve the needs of her customers in today's non-traditional real estate market. SFR is a Short Sale, Foreclosure Resource Specialist. Designees have been trained to understand the highly specialized options available to Sellers facing short sales & foreclosures and Buyers looking to buy them.
For more information on our local real estate market, or to see or sell a home in Miami, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, Coral Gables or the Redland, visit my Miami Real Estate blog or contact me at Maggie (at) TheBlogThatAteMiami (dot) com.
The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of Keller Williams Realty.
None of this information is to be deemed legal or financial advice. Please contact your attorney or accountant for same.
Matthew - unbelievably, yes. It still amazes me how this place has grown in just the last 10 years alone.
Lysa - I once waited patiently at this very intersection to make a left turn. The person behind me was not as patient and cut in front of me, from the left. They did it so quickly that while I was looking right they made their move. I had already checked my left and was about to turn when I realized what they had just done. I almost hit them. I was so angry they would pull crap like this. I'm glad that won't be an issue anymore.
Hi Maggie
Now if they will just give me a light at Krome and 136th street I might be saved from being creamed by a DiMare Tomato Truck in the morning one day! Thanks for sharing that means there is hope!
Janie
Janie - talk about making salsa! Sorry, I couldn't resist =) I know where you're talking about. It could use it.
Sarah - hi! This is definitely one of those little things that can make a world of difference. I almost sped thorugh the red lgiht the other day. I'm still not used to it!
Beth - thanks! I just wrote a post about the software program I used. Besides having lots of features, it's free. FREE. Me likes FREE.
Hi Maggie,
Great example of a localism post.