Thanks to Pinecrest resident and Miami-Dade Police Detective John Buchanan, the dangerous intersection of Old Cutler Road and SW 136th Street will have a traffic signal by the end of the year.

A confused motorist heads the wrong way down the left turn lane of Old Cutler Road onto SW 136th Street.

After five accidents at the intersection, including one with critical injuries in July 1998, Officer Buchanan, who is a member of the Miami-Dade Traffic Homicide Unit, initiated a Traffic Engineering/Repair Request to have the light installed. Buchanan sent a letter to the Miami-Dade Risk Management office and to Miami-Dade County Public Works Department to begin the process of getting the signal put in.

On July 26 of this year, Public Works agreed that in a recent study the intersection had met certain minimum standards, and that installation would begin in late 1999.

The intersection, which is actually under the jurisdiction of Miami-Dade County, and not Pinecrest, is located just beyond Pinecrest’s southern border.

"Because it is a more direct route to downtown Miami than US 1, traffic volume has definitely increased there the last several years as the population of the southern part of the county has continued to expand," Buchanan said. "During rush hour especially, it is almost impossible to turn left onto Old Cutler from eastbound SW 136th Street because, even if traffic lets up momentarily, there is usually someone turning left in front of you from Old Cutler onto westbound SW 136th Street."

If someone managed to make that left onto Old Cutler, the driver encountered another hazard, a tar spill on the road. Buchanan also saw to this problem, and just recently the Road, Bridge, and Canal Maintenance Division removed the tar, following up on his complaint.

"The problem was that if somehow you managed to get across the southbound Old Cutler traffic, your tires would slip on the tar in the far lane, which slopes away from the direction you’re turning. If there was any moisture on the road such as rain, the coefficient of friction would be altered even more dramatically than with just the tar, almost multiplying its effect on the tires. The end result would be that under these conditions tires would almost inevitably lose traction with the roadway," Buchanan said.

"I’d like to commend the maintenance people, who really did a great job solving this problem in a timely fashion," Buchanan said.

As for the traffic light itself, Buchanan looks forward to its year-end installation.

"It will make traffic move much more freely through there. It’s going to be much easier to get on and off either street, " he said.

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