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JUNE 22 - 28, 2010
ORT to begin on local expressways, July 17 BY RICHARD YAGER
M
otorists who have been using portions of two Kendall area expressways for free over the years will soon have to pay for the privilege. The Miami-Dade Expressway Authority (MDX) will begin using Open Road Tolling (ORT) on a portion of the Don Shula Expressway (SR 874) and all of the Snapper Creek Expressway (SR 878) effective July 17. ORT relies on transponders located on gantries over the roadway in connection with Sunpass units in vehicles. The mid-summer date was underscored by Teri Garcia, spokesperson for MDX, to a June 7 Kendall Federation of Homeowner Associations (KFHA) meeting. She encouraged regular and occasional expressway users to obtain Sunpass units now. Free Sunpass Minis were distributed at the meeting and special free Sunpass programs also are being offered to Miami-Dade College faculty, administrators and students at North and Kendall campuses. Otherwise, a Sunpass Mini is sold for $4.99 with the cost applied against first recorded mileage. Overhead units located on each gantry, now being completed on the Kendall area expressways, will record the new tolls in 25cent charges. A gantry south of Bird Road on the Shula will collect a 50-cent fee in either direction. The charges will result in $1 tolls for oneway trips between the Shula and Palmetto Expressway (SR 826), and 50 cents one-way (or $1 roundtrip) between S. Dixie Highway (US1) and the Shula via the Snapper Creek Expressway (SR 878). Since 2006, Garcia has appeared on behalf of MDX at a series of Kendall meetings, and from late May through early June this year, explaining details of Open Road Tolling that will require tolls for the first time on portions of the Shula and Snapper Creek expressways. If a driver uses the expressway without a Sunpass, a digital picture of the vehicle
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ORT, page 4
Kendall Soccer Park to host ‘5-on-5’ tournament in July
Miami-Dade County designated a ‘CitizenEngaged Community’ BY LEE STEPHENS
Reviewing plans for new Soccer 5 fields at Kendall Soccer Park are (l-r) architect Greg Madsen, and Scott and Alan Georgeson, who head the new U.S. program. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
BY RICHARD YAGER
“F
ive on Five” soccer is coming to Kendall with a July 10 championship game coinciding with the FIFA World Cup tournament finals in South Africa. That was the idea of Scott Georgeson, a native of Glasgow, Scotland, who picked the Kendall Soccer Park complex on SW 127th Avenue to begin popularizing the reduced-sized soccer game in South Florida and ultimately throughout the U.S. A recent arrival in the U.S., Georgeson heads an offshoot of the worldwide sport designed to involve soccer fanatics of all ages in what he describes as “a faster, more easily
adaptable game” for neighborhood parks, compared to those requiring regulation-sized fields for 11-man team competitions. “By fall, we’re hope to have a national tournament structured in eight major U.S. cities,” said Georgeson, president of U.S. Soccer 5 LLC, governing more than 2,000 who play the sport internationally. Last week, Georgeson was supervising final construction of four 90- by 65foot fields at the Kendall Soccer Park complex to host the first South Florida five-on-five tournament, scheduled through July 11.
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SOCCER, page 4
Public Technology Institute (PTI) has recognized Miami-Dade County’s efforts in providing the public with multi-channel access to government services and information through its “Citizen-Engaged Communities Designation Program.” The county received high marks for its award-winning Web portal and innovative 3-1-1 Answer Center as well as its use of social media technologies and performance reporting. “Miami-Dade County is engaging citizens like never before,” said Mayor Carlos Alvarez. “PTI’s CitizenEngaged Communities Designation Program challenges local government to achieve high standards in citizen participation, seamless service delivery and democratic accountability. We’re very proud to have met this challenge.” The public is able to access dozens of services on the county’s Web portal — from paying bills to accessing databases and maps. Legal notices are posted online and webcasting technology provides a way for the community to engage in the workings of the local government. The county portal’s quality content and self-service convenience attracted more than 23 million visits in 2009. Miami-Dade County finds itself on the forefront of newer technologies designed to engage the community through its the use of social media tools
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ENGAGED, page 4