1640-33 Causeways So, the county paid the
- money and presumably the
JUL 1 'QCT idea of a 2,lidbay Causeway
NW ended.
Then in April of this year,
Metro planners Reginald
L J Walters and Charles Crump-
.1.- ton put the outline of the
proposed causeway on Gen-
eral Land Use Master.Plan.
,, `t This is just what it says,7-- '
JACK ^"-
a plan for the future which
7 makes.'recommendations on
roads, zoning, parks and '
such. •
ROBERTSThis guide for Dade's fu-
turn must be approved by
the Metro Commission. .
Held At Bay so, it was back to the
drawing boards for Dade's
It's strange that some pee- thousands of women's clubs
pie simply can't take "no" members who fought the ,
for an answer. I'm referring causeway in the first place.
specifically to the half-heart- They've had to start a chain
ed revival of plans to build of letter writing to make cer- t
a causeway down the middle , tans that the current crop of '
of Biscayne 13 commissioners feel the same
as previous commissioners
Th i d b a y Causewa did wheni,the project was
idea has been tc•t nd killed.
for years. Agitation for the
north-south road in the Bay On The Books
started eight years ago The present members of
right after Metro took over.
the Commission seem very
At first it was proposed as unfriendly "towards the,
a scenic route, an alleged causeway',so there's little
thing of beauty paralleling chance of'this phase of the
the Miami shoreline from Land Use Plan being adopt-
Broad Causeway south to the ed in the near future. But .
MacArthur Causeway. . why keep It on the books
at all?
o When its proponents failed The overwhelming major-
at selling the causeway•as ity of people in Dade Gonn-
a scenic wonder, it cropped ty have said time and again
up next dressed in the robes that they don't want such a
of absolute necessity. Miami causeway cluttering up the
and its neighboring.comma gay. This once beautiful
nities would become so body of water is already bat-
crowded we would have to tered badly enough along the
take to the bay, said the Miami shoreline from land
planners.
' fill projects. Somebody in
The county entered into a charge — the Metro Com-
contract with Palmer and missioners, for example—
Baker Engineering Inc. in should tell the planners in
1958•to do the engineering no uncertain terms to "for-
on•the proposed causeway
get it."
after the Ewin Engineering Stuart Simon,the assistant
Corp. of Miami had estimat- county attorney who-fought
ed the project could be built the final legal phases of the
• for$20 million• court battle with Palmer,& ,.
This triggered one of the Baker, summed it up well
worst legal battles of Metro's when he said:
short life. Subsequent Metro "The causeway is neither
Commissions rejected the desirable nor is it needed. .
causeway and Palmer and It might be needed in the
Baker went to court in an year 2025. but we'll know
attempt to collect $750,0011 very well when we've be-
from Dade County. come so crowded that It's
necessary to ruin our beau-
A.Wise Move tiful Bay with a causeway."
This legal fight went onI agree.• ,
for years.Finally,at the be-
ginning of this year, County --
•
•
Attorney Tom-Britton recom- .
mended that Dade pay Pal- s •
mer&Baker'$272,000.It was t
a wise move. Dade had lost
twice in court and to prolong
the court fight by asking the
U.S. Supreme Court to hear• .
the case probably'., would•
have cost an additional $29,-
000 in interest and penalties.