POLITICO has reported that in a new report by INRIX, Miami is ranked fifth in the US for traffic congestion, and tenth globally.

According to the report, Miamians spend 65 hours a year in traffic, which translates to $1,762 in costs per driver.

Traffic is pretty bad in Miami. Take it from me, who commutes between Miami and Fort Lauderdale on a regular basis. I recently spent one and a half hours negotiating weekday traffic from downtown Miami to Fort Lauderdale.

You can only imagine how frustrating that drive home was.

So, for all of you living in south Florida, especially down in Miami-Dade County, the talk of any possible increase in traffic congestion makes your stomach turn, not to mention your blood boil.

Increase traffic is a very real possibility in the foreseeable future when the proposed American Dream Miami mall is constructed in northwest Miami-Dade County.

Concerns over the  increase in traffic congestion that will arise from the construction of the proposed “mega mall” project in northwest Miami-Dade, have been all the  talk since the project was first announced.

Triple Five, the developers of the proposed American Dream Miami project, says it has estimated that the project would create 70,000 trips per day, 5,000 of those trips would occur during the already saturated afternoon rush hour traffic.

On the surface, the project appears as if it would be a big financial boon for Miami-Dade County, regardless of the increased traffic, but will the mall become a financial burden for taxpayers?-Source

Because private dollars are being used construct the mall, developers  are saying that this project will not be poke in the eye to taxpayers the disastrous Miami Marlins stadium project was several years back.

Mall developers say that they are not asking for tax dollars to help finish the project, but would accept those dollars if they were made available.

More on this to come…