A decision by Florida Gov. Rick DeSantis (R) and the three-member state Cabinet has cleared a controversial $1-billion highway extension in Miami-Dade County to begin the environmental permitting process, even as the project’s long-term prospects remain in doubt.
On Sept. 21, DeSantis joined a majority of Cabinet members in formally rejecting a state administrative law judge’s 2020 recommendation against moving forward with a proposed 13-mile extension of the SR 836/Dolphin Expressway, also known as the Kendall Parkway. First proposed in 2012, the estimated $1-billion, six-lane expressway was envisioned as way to ease congestion and improve commuting times in the county’s growing western suburbs.