Traffic issues are not isolated to any specific area within Miami-Dade, rather the problem is rampant throughout the entirety of the county.

Back in early 2015, we reported  about a proposed America Dream Miami mega mall construction project in Miami-Dade County could make the traffic situation in the northwest part of the county all-but unbearable.

Triple Five, the construction company that developed Minnesota’s Mall of America is behind the proposed Miami “mega mall,” has outlined all of the job-creating aspects and attractions of the project.

First of all, American Dream Miami will have a total of 6.2 million square feet of retail space and have all sorts of water attractions, including an outdoors fishing facility.

Here is a list attractions the proposed project will have:

3.5 million square feet of retail

2,000 hotel rooms

A theme park of 370,000 square feet.

A water park of 370,000 square feet.

An indoor ski slope of 200,000 square feet.

A submarine lake with underwater attractions, water skiing and boat rides of 110,000 square feet with a gondola.

An Art Deco village (restaurants and entertainment) of 120,000 square feet.

Miniature golf of 95,000 square feet.

A sports center, which would have facilities for multiple youth sports, of 75,000 square feet.

An outdoor fishing center of 65,000 square feet.

Movie theaters of 35,000 square feet.

A Tivoli garden (plant nursery) of 35,000 square feet.

A live performance venue of 25,000 square feet.

An ice skating rink of undetermined size.

Critics of the proposed mega mall believe that the project is less of an American dream and more of an American nightmare.

The nightmare they speak of is the increased traffic congestion the construction of the mall will bring to the already over populated and traffic-plagued  cities in northwest Miami-Dade like Hialeah and Miami Lakes.

Those familiar with driving in these two respective cities will likely recite countless hours of misery they have endured while commuting throughout this area of the county.

According to Triple Five, the proposed American Dream Miami project would generate 70,000 trips per day, with about 5,000 of those trips made during the already saturated afternoon rush hour traffic.

American Dream Miami would attract 40 million visitors per year, according to the study. That’s more than double the 19.3 million people who visit Florida’s busiest theme park, Disney’s Magic Kingdom, per year.

The original traffic report on American Dream, based on it opening in 2020, forecast 61,862 new daily vehicle trips and 4,690 new trips during afternoon rush hour — the busiest time of the day for those roadways. The revised traffic report raised those estimates to 70,308 new daily trips and 5,330 new afternoon rush hour trips.

In addition to the new highway exits, Triple Five wants to build new roads within the project, connect it to a neighboring mixed-use project by the Graham Cos., and extend Northwest 97th Avenue so local drivers don’t have to use the highways.-Bizjournal

Regardless of whether old roads are improved and new roads paved, construction will undoubtedly cause massive traffic congestion during the building of the mega mall, and after the project is completed.