Can Miami Lakes keep 154th St. Bridge closed? I-75 overpass deal could hinge on trucks

A fight about highway overpasses between Hialeah and Miami Lakes may be inching toward a truce, but a sticking point remains over allowing trucks to use a bridge connecting the two municipalities above I-75.

Members of the Miami Lakes Town Council met privately Wednesday morning to discuss the potential settlement with officials from Hialeah and Miami-Dade County over Hialeah’s demand to open two overpasses that have been closed since their construction in the 1980s.

When Florida first built the overpasses, they connected farmland on either side of the interstate to allow livestock and equipment to cross over. Miami Lakes and Hialeah were still compact enough that the bridges weren’t seen as commuting options, but that changed as both municipalities expanded.

After Hialeah expanded to the western side of I-75, the city began demanding access to the overpasses to give residents a quicker route to the eastern side of the highway and the expressways that lead to Miami. Rather than crossing over the highway on state-built overpasses, residents in the area are forced to detour as many as 40 blocks south before getting a clear path east toward Miami.

On the eastern side, the largely built-out Miami Lakes objected to opening bridges that would increase traffic through a village with the motto “Growing Beautifully.”

The potential deal would keep closed the overpass at 154th Street for at least 10 years but open the one at 170th Street, provided the state and Miami-Dade County agree to prohibit trucks from using the new route over the interstate.

“That’s a non-starter for us,” Miami Lakes Mayor Manny Cid said of trucks using the bridge.

Miami Lakes is holding a town hall at 7 p.m. Wednesday to discuss the potential settlement, and released a proposed agreement that Cid said Miami-Dade County sent to the town the day before.

The document includes a provision allowing trucks to use the 170th Street bridge, which Cid said town council members want removed. That might be a problem at the county level, with Miami-Dade Commission Chairman Jose “Pepe” Diaz saying it doesn’t make sense to open an overpass to relieve gridlocked Hialeah neighborhoods but not allow delivery and tow trucks through.

“We have to be really clear and stop playing games,” he said. “Enough is enough.”

At issue is one of the longest and sharpest divides between neighboring municipalities in the county, with Hialeah and Miami Lakes feuding over the state-owned bridges for years. As Hialeah expanded east to the edge of I-75, the pressure grew to allow residents access to the overpasses for commutes to the Miami area.

All sides appeared to reach a truce on March 5, when Cid joined Hialeah Mayor Esteban “Steve” Bovo and Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava on the 170th Street bridge to announce a deal on a morning radio show.

The framework was the same: Hialeah would endorse keeping the 154th Street bridge closed for 10 years if Miami Lakes backed opening 170th Street immediately.

But that detente fell apart when council members in Miami Lakes objected to some of the details last week. Even so, talks continued and Cid and Bovo said Wednesday an agreement seemed close.

“Unless something changed, I am good,” Bovo said of the Miami Lakes proposal. He said Hialeah doesn’t object to the truck ban on 170th, and that residents are eager to see that bridge open immediately.

In an interview Tuesday, Levine Cava said that despite the last-minute friction, an agreement is near.

“We’re close to a deal,” she said. “We’re hopeful.”

This story was originally published March 16, 2022 at 6:30 PM.