Broward County officials are unsure about the traffic plans for the American Dream Mall.
American Dream Miami will become one of the continent's largest theme park-malls. And while Miami-Dade's transportation department is hiring an expert to examine the flow of traffic into Miami-Dade, those plans didn't originally include any transportation improvements in Broward County -- which is just two miles to the north.
The development company estimated some 70,000 vehicles will affect the area where the Turnpike and Interstate 75 meet.
Broward has since hired a traffic expert to see whether the developers underestimated the numbers.
If so, “please be advised that Broward County will exercise appropriate legal remedies afforded to us to ensure that the impacts are mitigated,” Broward planning and development management Director Josie Sesodia warned in a recent letter to Miami-Dade County.
Broward officials say businesses and property owners in southwest Broward will face negative impacts, and believe the county will be stuck with the bill to expand roadways and modernize traffic signals.
“The two things we focused on are traffic and transit,” Sesodia said in an interview. “I think it’s very important to recognize that American Dream would likely attract employees from south Miramar and other parts of south Broward, and how those folks would get to work would be very important.”
The American Dream Mall would reside on 174 acres between Florida’s Turnpike Homestead extension and Interstate 75 south. The developer proposes building up to 3.5 million square feet of retail space, 1.5 million square feet of entertainment space, up to 2,000 hotel rooms and another 1.2 million square feet in non-public square footage.