Committee hears update on stalled 107th Avenue project; 170th work aligned with Turnpike ramp opening

At a Miami‑Dade County Transportation and Public Works committee meeting, Joseph Rodriguez, interim director of the Department of Transportation and Public Works, said design for a long‑delayed 107th Avenue reconstruction project is complete, permits have been obtained and the county is procuring construction with an expected midyear start.

Rodriguez told the committee the original design‑build procurement for 107th Avenue was canceled after utility conflicts involving Florida Power & Light (FPL). "Following that cancellation that happened earlier this year, we engaged the designer, to finalize the design. And the design has been finalized and and, pretty much all permits have been obtained. We're now in the process of procuring the project, and we expect, construction midyear," Rodriguez said.

The update matters for nearby neighborhoods and the City of Hialeah. Commissioner Rebeca Sosa Bermudez said the western Hialeah area has seen substantial growth and traffic congestion and asked the department to coordinate outreach and scheduling. "...we'll probably have a a town hall meeting out there to let people know where we stand, which I think is it's gonna be great great news for them that we're moving forward," Bermudez said.

Rodriguez said the county is working to expedite procurement, that the request‑for‑proposals (RFP) had not yet been issued and that county staff were finishing the draft for release next month. When asked for a more specific timetable, Rodriguez said the county was "looking at the June, July to, particularly July" timeframe to complete procurement and begin construction.

He also noted a remaining coordination issue: "we're... addressing some minor issues with water connections with Hialeah. But that's about the the only thing that we have," Rodriguez said.

Commissioners asked the department to align 107th Avenue work with an expected Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) Turnpike interchange at 170th, which is scheduled to open later this year. Rodriguez said design for the county's 170th project is finalized, the work is proceeding through the county's MCC program and construction is expected in the next couple of months. "We've actually been in in close coordination with the turnpike, so we'll be aligning our schedules," he said.

Committee members discussed accelerating post‑procurement steps. The chair said that, if Commissioner Bermudez preferred, the award could bypass committee and go directly to the full county board to speed the schedule. Bermudez agreed. The department also asked that item 3(f) be advanced to next week's committee meeting.

Procedural notes: the committee opened the reasonable opportunity to be heard and reported no public speakers; members approved the meeting agenda after a motion and second and later moved to adjourn.

The committee did not take any final contract award or policy vote on the 107th Avenue or 170th items during this session; Rodriguez described procurement milestones and near‑term construction scheduling only.