The New Express Lane Poles and Racist Street Names: Our Most Popular Stories This Week

Oh, South Florida! Nothing can ever be quite as simple in the swampy suburban sprawl we call home. We are the epitome of the "This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things" meme. Take our nifty new I-95 express lanes, for example. What started out a a quick way to...

By Jose D. Duran

October 2, 2016

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Oh, South Florida! Nothing can ever be quite so simple in the swampy suburban sprawl we call home. We are the epitome of the "This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things" meme.

Take our nifty, new I-95 express lanes, for example. What started out as a quick way to get to — and escape from — downtown Miami has become a nightmare. Accidents, at times deadly, have become a common occurrence. So, what's the Florida Department of Transportation do? It's spent $1.2 million to beef up the poles that separate the express lanes from the Ninth Circle of Hell known as South Florida traffic. The poles were also placed closer together to deter drivers from weaving in and out of the express lanes. Problem solved, right?

Wrong. (Remember, this is South Florida!)

Mark Kaire, an attorney with Kaire & Heffernan in Miami, points out that by placing the poles at five-foot, rather than ten-foot, intervals, the FDOT is just making it harder for people who are already determined to illegally jump from one lane to another to see what they’re doing. Asks Kaire, "They’re going to try to reduce the number of accidents by reducing drivers’ sight lines?"

That's just the beginning of all the South Florida mayhem that happened this week.
5. Activists Host Downtown Walking Tour of Corruption and Homeless Blight

4. Broward Activist Allegedly Beaten and Tased Five Times in Police Custody

3. The Racist Murderer Behind Broward's Most Controversial Street Is an Embarrassment to Hollywood

2. Rony Abovitz's Magic Leap May Reshape Your Reality

1. New Express Lane Poles May Actually Make I-95 More Dangerous

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Jose D. Duran has been the associate web editor of Miami New Times since 2008. He's the voice and strategist behind the publication's eyebrow-raising Facebook and Twitter feeds. He has also been reporting on Miami's music, entertainment, and cultural scenes since 2006, previously through sites such as MiamiNights.com and OnBeat.com. He earned his BS in journalism with a minor in art history from the University of Florida. He's a South Florida native and will be a Miami resident as long as climate change permits and the temperature doesn't drop below 60 degrees.

Contact: Jose D. Duran

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Twitter: @jose_d_duran