Well, that obviously wasn't Commissioner Marc Sarnoff talking to a bridge tender but it might as well have been. I get an email the other day stating that in his infinite wisdom, City of Miami Commissioner Marc Sarnoff, want's to keep the bridges that cross the Miami River locked down for a longer period of time during morning and afternoon rush hour. From the email...
"Proposed by City of Miami, Commissioner Marc Sarnoff, the bridge lock-down changes he is considering now, will affect allwaterway traffic.
The request is going to ask District 7 to consider temporarily modifying the Miami River drawbridge regulation: 33CFR117.305 (c) and (d); which regulates the opening schedule of the following bridges: Miami Avenue, SW 2nd Ave, and Brickell Ave. The proposal will ask to extend the afternoon curfew 30 minutes to encompass 4:35 pm - 6:30 pm and that no tugs/tows be allowed to pass during the existing morning and proposed afternoon curfews (7:35 am- 8:59 am / 4:35 pm - 6:30 pm). This request includes starting impacts at the end of April through the end of the year - December 2013.
Wonderful. As if the Miami River wasn't already one of the most inhospitable waterways in the world for those who use it, be it recreational boaters or commercial traffic, now those of us who use the river have to contend with this asshat and his desire to keep the bridges down for a few more hours? What's next, only opening the bridges for marine traffic from 12 to 6 am? How about locking the bridges down permanently?
I'm obviously biased as a business owner on the Miami River who frequently makes the trip up and down the waterway several times a week, that's what makes this proposed regulation change all the more frustrating.
