SR 826-836 Interchange Update 1/27/13

Pleased to say that in this seemingly endless construction project at the SR 826-836 interchange in Miami, FL, a new stage has been reached.

The flyover ramp from eastbound 836 to northbound 826 has been opened last week, effectively cutting off the old loop ramp. Recently the fence over the CSX Lehigh Spur and the street lights (low lights at the area near MIA's runway 9) have been installed telling me that the bridge is ready. Also the exit to NW 25 ST out of northbound 826 has been put earlier in a temporary collector-distributor fashion so that traffic from 836 can share a lane with the 25th street ramp traffic and both have the opportunity to exit off at the final exit.
Now the eastbound mainline bridge can continue to be constructed and soon enough Eastbound 836 will have a new alignment to follow.
The westbound to southbound flyover is also closed in, with the last section in the curing process. I wouldn't see this one opened up until traffic on southbound 826 manages to go over the new bridges over 7th Street, which are just waiting to be opened up.
Looks messy... but I'm sure the DOT's engineers have this figured out.

Photos:

EMS signs indicate where to go

A look at the approach

2 lanes swing left as one will swing right. As much as these are temporary signs, this is the future alignment.

Platform Snafu for Amtrak at the Miami Central Station

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/05/3168185/at-new-miami-train-station-too.html

Apparently, Amtrak and FDOT are having a little talk - over the Miami Central Station at the Miami Intermodal Center.

The new station which is replacing Tri-Rail's Miami Airport Station (the project caused trains to terminate at Hialeah Market, the old terminal since 2011) appears to have a design flaw.

What surprises me is that Amtrak greenlighted the plans as they were. Apparently, however, officials at Amtrak started to feel that the platforms were too short.

As someone who fancies trains and knows the Amtrak consist fairly well, I'm not surprised at the way they are quarreling over the length of the platforms. It should be a no brainer to say they are short, but somebody really messed up -- bad. Heck, this issue should have been fixed before, but then again at that time I didn't hear that many trains to exceed the lengths that I will mention below.

The Silver Star should not be a problem as it usually has 900-something feet in length and nine cars and two P42DC locomotives. (44 axles). But over the holidays and notably in 2012, it has hit the 48 and 52 axle marks, with one to two extra cars in the roster. This relates to the quote about the occasional longer trains. Each car is 80-something feet so that would put it well around a quarter mile or ~1,100-1,200 feet in length.

The Meteor, the train they are pointing at, already tops 1,000 feet as it is. I suppose they need space for the room for error in shoving it as well.That already fiddles with the cap space of 1,030'. This train traditionally has 48 axles but - get this - I hear 52 axles (1,100') more often on Defect Detector readouts and Train Logs, such as Dennis Snyder's Orlando Rail Log.

Most obviously, Tri-Rail, the other tenant, will fit very nicely as it is due to lengths topping 350-400 feet per train. Even when they "deadhead" cars, lengths top 700 feet. they already had fit snugly when Miami Airport Station was around.

They say a solution is closing NW 25th Street, the road that links the MIC with LeJeune Rd across the tracks. While this will hold up as an issue, it's not too bad that traffic will have to be rerouted since most of the action is around 21st Street, which skirts the headhouse of the station. A reroute is necessary, however, as there is not a good enough link between the road and 21st Street. It suggests a crossing will open around 28th Street (which is ideal) and the traffic would connect there. Not the most viable solution, but it works. 28th Street as it is connects to LeJeune, but then again FDOT will have to perform eminent domain on a car lot to make it happen. Someone won't be happy.

By the way, here are photos of the station which is progressing really nicely. I haven't been there in recent months, probably because I had no business to do there. http://exmiami.org/threads/miami-central-station-intermodal-center-metrorail-airportlink-orange-line-under-construction.5/page-6#post-3135

[HD] Riding Metrorail and Tri-Rail Through Hialeah and Fort Lauderdale -...

This was a fun ride and probably a merit of Public Transportation in South Florida.

I went to see a friend purely at the behest of Public Transportation. The joyride was composed of three legs: Doral Trolley, Metrorail, and Tri-Rail.

The Doral Trolley leg was Route 2. It was incorporated first around 2010 and fine tuned in 2011 to link Doral citizens to the Metrorail. The route is extremely convenient given I would not need to pay for gas, much less parking to go ride Metrorail. The ride is also completely free, paid by taxes. If I tried to ride to my friend in 2010, I would not have a connector to ride to the Palmetto station and would need to take a bus.

The Metrorail was an OK ride; as usual nothing special, but a nice elevated vista. The pay arrangement was a headache though. I paid 7.00 for an Easy Card that was a must, and only rode the system once and not twice. Metrorail needs to be flexible in this and allow single rides for 2.00.

Tri-Rail was as expected the exciting part. I am big on trains so I enjoyed every minute of the ride. This system would have been tougher to ride a while back as before 2007, Tri-Rail was engaged in a double track project of the CSXT Miami Sub (South Florida Rail Corridor) which was for the most part single track. This streamlined operations of Tri-Rail and made it as convenient and frequent as it is today.

What I like about public transportation is the ability to cut back on gas costs. To see my friend in Cypress Creek, I would burn a quarter tank one way as it is. I did pay about the cost of that much gas (13.45), but that covered a full round trip. Now, as of 2012, the services are quite convenient as I could literally walk to the modes that bring me as far as West Palm, or even farther by way of a few Amtrak trains. The only setback is that Tri-Rail will not exactly get you where you need to go as it skirts metropolises in South Florida. That is because the Seaboard extension here runs 1-2 miles away from the urban cores. Yet, you could catch a ride or walk to the downtown areas if need be, so it is not too bad in the end. Another thing is that Tri-Rail is not a 24 hour service. It would be better to be able to take it at midnight - 2 AM but my personal safety may be compromised, and also people may not have a good enough demand for the system at that time. MDT does have accommodations for late night travel, however.

This video shows some of the highlights and sights of the trip. I am a big rail enthusiast but I do consider other modes of transportation as well, and future posts will show that going forward.