In Your Neighborhood

Take action in your community.

There's no better place to start advocating for safer streets than with your neighbors in your very own community.

Community consensus helps overcome the ambiguity of many asks to local government, often necessary when requesting significant or unconventional changes to what planners and engineers call "the built environment."

Following are resources you can use to encourage your local leaders to prioritize children over cars.

Traffic calming for neighborhoods:

Modal Filters

Older neighborhood streets were designed much narrower than today, encouraging slower car traffic. While many of these streets remain mostly unchanged, traffic volumes have increased since they were built, making them less conducive for kids to explore safely.

Modal filters - a type of street closure that allows bicycles and pedestrians through, but not cars - can significantly reduce the amount of unnecessary cut-through traffic on these streets, returning a neighborhood to being a safe and inviting place for families and young riders to enjoy.

Municipal and County contacts:

Street engineering and maintenance in Miami is divided between the Florida Department of Transportation District 6 (FDOT District 6) and Miami-Dade County's Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTPW). Miami-Dade County maintains the majority of local roads, while FDOT has jurisdiction over some of the larger multi-lane arterials.

While Miami-Dade County oversees final roadway designs and, in some cases, maintenance for municipalities, each municipality has a staff of engineers and planners on hand. All municipal redesigns require approval through Miami-Dade DTPW.

If your neighborhood necessitates safer streets, one or more of these public works departments - and your area commissioner(s) - are where you should address your concerns. Always maintain a productive, respectful narrative if you want to see more efforts put towards safer streets. Certain engineering standards may currently limit what can be done, so be open to options made available to your community. Engineering guides like the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) or Florida Greenbook establish what can or cannot be built.

Use the list here to find your Public Works department. Keep in mind that requests through your local commissioner (or commissioners) tend to receive increased priority.