Miami Lakes staff unveils Vision 0 safety effort, asks committee for outreach help

Thomas, a planner in the Town of Miami Lakes planning and transportation department, told the Neighborhood Improvement Committee that the town has won a grant to produce a Vision 0 master plan and an updated Transportation Master Plan and asked the committee to help with outreach and local data collection.

"Vision 0 is basically an effort to reduce traffic fatalities to 0," Thomas said, describing the effort as a multi‑modal approach that aims to lower the severity of crashes through roadway design, pedestrian audits and targeted improvements. Joseph, a transportation coordinator with the department, joined Thomas during the presentation.

The presenters said the project will collect crash and near‑miss data from county police, hospital records and existing county reports, and that the town will use the findings to prioritize safety over traffic flow when seeking funding from larger agencies including FDOT, the county and regional transportation partners. "If we are doing this by ourselves with a consultant shut up in a room, the result is not gonna be anything that makes any sense," Thomas said, emphasizing community input.

Committee members raised questions about how Vision 0 relates to other plans. "How is this going to connect with Complete Streets?" asked Committee member Vilaro. Thomas said Vision 0 will inform updates to the town’s Complete Streets and bicycle-and-trails master plans and will be used as the technical backbone when the town negotiates with outside agencies or requests funds.

Discussion touched on specific local issues committee members have raised in recent years: lighting, missing crosswalks on 60 Seventh Avenue, narrow or high‑speed main thoroughfares, and the tradeoffs of speed bumps versus other calming measures. Thomas said the consultants and staff plan to perform pedestrian audits and walk routes with residents to identify systemic design problems — for example, curb radii that encourage higher turning speeds or places where crosswalks are absent.

The committee did not take a formal vote on any recommendation at the meeting; staff asked the committee to promote the project's website and postcards, to join outreach events such as community bike rides, and to participate in route audits. Thomas said a Spanish version of the project website was being added immediately.

Committee members discussed examples of recent local projects — narrowed lanes and planting zones that are intended to reduce speeds by changing drivers’ sightlines — and urged the town to secure funding for accompanying landscaping that staff said was not covered by the original grant.

The presentation closed with staff asking for the committee’s ongoing participation in outreach, review of candidate improvements and assistance in identifying problem corridors for pedestrian audits.