- Miami-Dade Expressway Authority
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Miami-Dade Expressway Authority (MDX) 
Agency overview Formed 1994 Jurisdiction Miami-Dade County, Florida Headquarters Miami, Florida Website http://www.mdxway.com The Miami-Dade Expressway Authority (MDX) is an independent agency created in December 1994 by the State of Florida and the Miami-Dade County Commission. Since 1997, MDX has been operating and maintaining five expressways that were formerly operated by the Florida Department of Transportation: Gratigny Parkway (SR 924), Airport Expressway (SR 112), Dolphin Expressway (SR 836), Don Shula Expressway (SR 874) and Snapper Creek Expressway (SR 878). Three of the five expressways are all electronic toll roads, requiring the use of SunPass or a "toll-by-plate" program and do not accept cash, and the free movement sections were removed. The Gratigny Parkway, Don Shula Expressway and Snapper Creek Expressway are all electronic, while the Airport Expressway and Dolphin Expressway will be converted by 2013.[1]
All MDX highways use the shield-shaped signs reserved by FDOT for toll roads (with the MDX logo (see above) attached below the "shield"). Along a portion of a MDX route where no tolls are ahead, the TOLL in the green section of the TOLL shield is removed. In addition, all MDX highways use a uniquely-designed mileage marker. Instead of the green "MILE XX" markers most commonly seen on Interstate Highways, the five MDX expressways use blue mileage markers featuring (from top to bottom, in white): a single letter indicating the direction of travel, the State Road designation of the highway (complete with outline of the State of Florida), and two numbers separated by a horizontal line ("2" on the top, "4" on the bottom of the line represents Mile Marker 2.4 from either the southern or western end of the expressway). These markers are placed on the edge of the shoulder every 0.2 mile apart along the expressway (the Gratigny Expressway has two of these (Mile Markers 5.0 and 5.2) on a surface street near Opa-Locka on Northwest 119th Street just east of the end of its easternmost ramp).
Completely funded by toll revenues, MDX has been aggressively upgrading and updating its roads over the past decade, including the ongoing Dolphin Expressway extension (the first phase was completed in 2007) and re-engineering of several interchanges of its two oldest expressways (the Airport and Dolphin). Long term plans include the redesign and reconstruction of longtime bottlenecks in the Shula and Dolphin Expressways, most notably the often-backed-up Killian Parkway/SR 990 interchange near Miami Dade College-Kendall Campus and the heavily congested interchange with the Palmetto Expressway (SR 826) near the extreme western end of Miami International Airport.
Contents
Airport Expressway
Main article: Airport Expressway (Miami)State Road 112, locally known as Airport Expressway is a 4 mile long east-west expressway connecting Miami International Airport in Miami to I-95 and I-195, which ultimately connects to Miami Beach.
Dolphin Expressway
Main article: Dolphin ExpresswayState Road 836, locally known as the Dolphin Expressway, is13.8 miles long toll road currently extending from Southwest 137th Avenue in the west to I-95 in the east. The section of roadway east of I-95 is designated as I-395 or the MacArthur Causeway.
Don Shula Expressway
Main article: Don Shula ExpresswayState Road 874, locally known as the Don Shula Expressway, is 7 miles long, connecting the Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike and Palmetto Expressway in central Miami-Dade County, Florida. As of July 17, 2010, the Don Shula Expressway no longer accepts cash.
Snapper Creek Expressway
Main article: Snapper Creek ExpresswayState Road 878, locally known as the Snapper Creek Expressway, stretches for 3.0 miles between Don Shula Expressway (State Road 874) and U.S. Highway 1 (South Dixie Highway - SR 5). This provides access to Kendall and South Miami. Although constructed, improved and maintained through toll revenue, the Snapper Creek Expressway was untolled until July 17, 2010, when open road tolling (ORT) was initiated on the Expressway.
Gratigny Parkway
Main article: Gratigny ParkwayState Road 924, locally known as Gratigny Parkway, is a 5.2 mile long limited access all-electronic toll road maintained by the Miami-Dade Expressway, running east to west. The Gratigny Parkway starts east of the Palmetto Expressway/I-75 interchange in Hialeah and ends at Northwest 32nd Avenue in North Miami. The section of roadway east of NW 32nd Avenue is a surface street (Northwest 119th Street) also known as Gratigny Road. Despite its relatively short length, SR 924 is a major east-west artery in northern Miami-Dade County, Florida.
See also
- Transportation in Miami
References
- ^ Chardy, Alfonso. "Cash tolls on Miami-Dade expressways will soon be electronic". Miami Herald 23 Mar 2010. Retrieved 23 Apr 2010
External links
Categories:- Transportation in Miami-Dade County, Florida
- Expressway authorities
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