Study suggests truck tollway for Port of Miami

Study suggests truck tollway for Port of Miami A truck tollway from the Port of Miami to Miami International Airport and the Florida Turnpike extension on the west side of Miami would be the best way to serve Miami's trade community while decreasing traffic congestion, a new study said.
   Los Angeles-based Reason Foundation presented the study last week to the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce's Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The study calls for a truck tollway that would cost an estimated $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion. The study will also be presented to Miami's Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) — a federally mandated group of local, state and federal officials that review transportation infrastructure issues — as well as the Florida Department of Transportation for further consideration.
   The study includes four possible routes for the tollway, which would include a mix of truck-only lanes on existing transportation corridors. But the tollway would require new skyways, tunnels, and even roads along scarcely used rail rights of way.
   A key element of the proposal is that the local international trade economy needs to grow without creating more traffic congestion.
   The study is based on the assumption that the Miami Port Tunnel will be completed. The entrance to the tunnel is the eastern terminus of all four proposed routes.
   The study is available at www.reason.org/ps365_miami_truckways.pdf.