Work on the Port of Miami tunnel gets under way

MIAMI (WSVN) -- City of Miami and Miami-Dade County officials broke ground on the Port of Miami tunnel project Friday.

In 2004, Miami-Dade County voters approved funding for the subterranean pathway, which officials promise will generate thousands of jobs and make the Port of Miami a 24-hour-a-day hub. "This really is about jobs," said City of Miami Commissioner Marc Sarnoff. "This port is at a huge competitive disadvantage [versus] every other port in Florida."

"This is our way to survive in the future," Miami-Dade County Commissioner Jose "Pepe" Diaz said of the tunnel, which has been 30 years in the making. "To keep our most valuable part of our economy, besides tourism, is trade."

During the ceremony, the Secretary of Florida's Department of Transportation promised that the roughly $1 billion project will be completed within its four-year timetable and without cost overruns.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez quelled the worries of Miami Beach and Watson Island business owners, who believe that construction will cripple their means of income. "It is a good day for Miami-Dade County," he said to the audience at the celebration, which comes two weeks after the construction on the project officially began.

To make way for the tunnel's entrance, crews are currently widening the MacArthur Causeway to add lanes southward, which will be followed by a 120-foot dredge about a year from now.

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