The Port of Miami has been a problem since the Reagan administration, causing traffic snarls and wasted time. Nearly 16,000 vehicles—almost 5,000 of which are semi trucks—travel to and from the port each day. Because the traffic to get to the port winds through downtown Miami, it creates a lot of congestion. Thousands of vehicles have chosen to bypass this route entirely because it’s such a mess, opting to take a route through the Everglades instead.
Despite the fact that state officials have long been aware of the need to expand the Port of Miami, getting permission and funding to enact the project has been a matter of contention since the early 1980s. Back then, the port was only connected to the mainland by a two-lane road with a drawbridge. The government proposed to connect the port to the mainland by a tunnel, but the plan was scrapped in favor of a six-lane bridge instead.