Broward County and Fort Lauderdale traffic congestion: it's elementary in a vertical city

Galt Mile - Fort Lauderdale 2020

 

By Jane Feehan

South Florida traffic issues have commanded headlines for decades, offering little more than hope that roads will catch up to population.

During the 1950s the worst traffic jam in Florida was reported to be the bridge over Fort Lauderdale's New River at U.S. Highway 1, where it took 45 minutes to cross. The Henry E. Kinney Tunnel opened in 1960, helping to ease the traffic problem. That year Broward County’s population was counted at about 343,000, up from 83,000 residents in 1950.

Traffic was abysmal in 1979, the decade that many high-rises were built (and recession followed). East-west routes were inadequate (and still are in most areas). There were 793,074 registered vehicles in Broward County that year with a census of 986,000 residents. Commissioner Anne Kolb said, “Broward County roads are terrible.” She was right way back in 1979. Parts of A-1-A in Pompano then were already at 140 percent capacity, and that was only one example of the traffic problems.

Mega hotels & condos
Fort Lauderdale Beach 2021

Expectations pointed to about one million Broward County residents by 2000. That estimate was wrong. According to the U.S. Census, 1.6 million lived in Broward that year. In 2022, the population jumped to nearly 1,984,000 residents with 1.623 million auto vehicle registrations, according to  Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. (Broward County reported 1.9 million registered vehicles but probably included all vehicles, including mobile homes and vessels.)

Downtown Fort Lauderdale is booming with one project after another getting a green light from the Fort Lauderdale commission. A reported 40 projects to include 16,000 condos and apartments were in the pipeline in July 2022. New projects are announced each month—sometimes weekly. It’s already a problem getting emergency responders through downtown. Fort Lauderdale is now a vertical city. And, residents are leaving downtown as fast as they can. Quality of life issues, I’m told.

A Broward County 30-year one-penny sales tax passed a vote in 2018 and is expected to raise $16 billion for transportation projects, including rapid transit options. 

Miami-Dade passed a half-penny tax in 2002 for transportation improvements. Let’s hope Broward County’s one-penny tax is better directed. Miami-Dade’s tax has been diverted to maintenance and operations and special projects. “A lot of the transportation promises of two decades ago have not been fulfilled,” reported WLRN.

As with California, it’s doubtful Florida drivers in this big state will be using mass transit. The problems (and additional expense) always seem to be getting riders from rail stops to final locations. There is no synchronization of north-south initiatives with east-west follow-through.

And “rising seas?” When are engineers and government officials going to get brave enough to admit that developing mega hotels and mega condos on nearly every square inch of Broward County affects water runoff and adds to flooding problems? And of course, traffic is worse than ever (visualize evacuating in an EV when a hurricane threatens or returning in one when there's no electricity).  As Sherlock Holmes used to say, “It’s elementary, my dear Watson.”

 

Downtown Fort Lauderdale 2022: the vertical city

Other Sources:

Fort Lauderdale News, Jan. 7, 1979

Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles

The Real Deal, July 1, 2022

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Jan. 28, 2023

Broward County (Broward.org)

 

Tags: Broward County traffic problems, Broward County history, Fort Lauderdale history, Fort Lauderdale traffic, Fort Lauderdale downtown, downtown Fort Lauderdale