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SR 836 extension for SW Dade BY RICHARD YAGER red line on an aerial photo curving into the heart of southwest Miami-Dade County is proposed as a future extension of the State Road 836/Dolphin Expressway that now terminates at SW 137th Avenue and Eighth Street (Tamiami Trail). Designated as a projected extension of SR 836, a new “Corridor” plan would create a sweeping southwestern loop of expressway through much of West Kendall, south of Kendall Drive. Beginning at SW 137th Avenue, the proposed path extends west before turning south, east of Krome Avenue, then continues in a southeasterly direction to SW 136th Street, just southwest of Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport. Such a westward expressway corridor would connect the county’s west and southwest residential areas to three major north-south routes — Florida’s Turnpike, Palmetto Expressway (SR 826) and Interstate-95 — and provide a direct route to Miami International Airport, Downtown Miami and major commercial centers along the way. The proposed new phase of MiamiDade’s major east-to-west expressway already has been shown by the MiamiDade Expressway Authority (MDX) to develop feedback about the projected route from several key county agencies and citizen organizations. MDX also wants to interface with all current transportation planning currently under consideration, especially those that could affect potential state or federal funding, according to Tere C.
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SR 836, page 4
103 children become citizens at WK center
Waving miniature flags are new citizens Manuel Pacheco, 5, and Zai Pacheco, 7, with their mother, Natasha Wiedeman of Homestead.
BY RICHARD YAGER he opening of the new U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Department Field Office in West Kendall was celebrated with a welcoming ceremony for 103 young, new U.S. citizens on Dec. 19. Miami-Dade Commissioner Joe A. Martinez joined Linda M. Swacina, director of the Miami and Caribbean
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District of the USCIS, for a morning swearing-in ceremony that also christened the new structure at 14675 SW 120 St., opposite the northwest portion of Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport. Open for two weeks in early December, the West Kendall location is one of four new South Florida cen––––––––––––– See
CITIZENS, page 4
DEC. 30, 2008 - JAN. 5, 2009
Give gift to the environment; recycle your Christmas tree BY GAYLE R. LOVE iami-Dade County Department of Solid Waste Management (DSWM) customers looking for an environmentally friendly way to give back to the earth following the holidays can do so by recycling their Christmas trees. Now through Sunday, Jan. 18, DSWM waste collection customers can drop off clean, undecorated Christmas trees at the DSWM’s 13 Neighborhood Trash and Recycling Centers as well as a special dropoff area at the South Dade Landfill (24000 SW 97 Ave.) daily from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. In addition to Christmas tree drop-off, the DSWM will provide curbside collection of trees for service area residents for one week only beginning Wednesday, Jan. 7, through Wednesday, Jan. 14. Trees free of tinsel, lights and other decorations should be placed at the curbside for collection. Clean trees collected at drop-off sites and during the week of curbside collection will be chipped in-house, and the mulch product will be distributed starting the third week of January to service area residents free-of-charge at designated sites while supplies last. “Recycling Christmas trees is a great way to help the environment, saves valuable landfill space and provides a free product that residents can use in small landscaping and gardening projects,” said Kathleen Woods-Richardson, Department of Solid Waste Management. “Christmas tree chips can be placed in plant beds, along garden paths or in potted plants and are a wonderful, fragrant reminder of the holiday season,” Woods-Richardson added. For more information on the DSWM’s Christmas tree recycling program, dropoff locations or proper tree disposal options, residents can call the county’s Answer Center at 3-1-1 or visit the department’s website at <www.miamidade.gov/dswm>.
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