New bridge to ease traffic in Miami-Dade

WEST MIAMI-DADE (WSVN) -- A new South Florida bridge could start relieving a traffic nightmare as early as Friday morning in Miami-Dade County.

A new bridge will now connect SR 836 to SR 826. Traffic traveling eastbound intending to turn either north and southbound, will now have to exit about a mile earlier.

The exits will be immediately after 87th Avenue. Northbound traffic traveling from eastbound 836 will now use a new east-to-north flyover to merge on to 826 north. Southbound traffic will also have to exit at around 87th Avenue to head south, but the flyover is only for northbound traffic.

A representative from the Florida Department of Transportation said drivers should notice the benefits immediately. "You're going to be able to exit one mile earlier. Right now, you're sitting in traffic to reach the existing exit, which is one mile to the east, so you'll be able to exit earlier and utilize this higher-capacity flyover," said Oscar Gonzalez from FDOT. He adds, "You can either stay on the left-hand to connect with the northbound bridge or on the right as you have been doing for the past several months, and you'll go southbound on SR 826."

Because of the changes, FDOT is warning drivers to slow down to keep everyone safe. "There's always a period of adjustment. So we ask the drivers to pay very close attention, look at the signs. We have plenty of electronic message signs that will guide them through this new travel path," said Gonzalez.

All of the construction is supposed to alleviate traffic in the long run. The east-to-north ramp is the first of four high-capacity flyovers. They are all expected to be finished by 2015.

If you want to check out which routes to take you can visit http://www.826-836.com/ for more information.

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