Call In Via Zoom or Go In Person To The GC City Commission Meeting on Tuesday, July 1, 2025

To All Petition Supporters:

I have been informed that on Tuesday, July 1, 2025, the City of Coral Gables Commission will be deciding on the Underline Bridge Issue that we've been fighting for. The CG Commission meeting will start at 9am and you can attend in person or via a Zoom call. To attend via Zoom go to www.coralgables.com Once there, click City Meetings, then Participate in City Meetings Remotely and join via Zoom.

Once on, you can participate live and provide public comment. Note: You can only provide Public Comment at the beginning of the meeting.

If you wish to attend live; then go to:

 2151 Salzedo Street, Coral Gables at 9am

Key Talking Points: 723 Petition Supporters: SAY NO TO LOW BRIDGES ON THE CORAL GABLES WATERWAY

• We don't want anymore low bridges on the CG waterway that impede navigation and safety for all involved.
• We think the Underline is a great addition to our City . However, they need to consider how their bridge impacts the navigability, safety and future sea level rise of the CG Waterway.
• The Underline proposed design is only 3 feet higher than the US1 bridge, which is our lowest bridge on the Waterway, north of Blue Road and a huge hazard to all. The US 1 bridge is barely 6 feet at mean high tide and barely navigable. During King Tides its NOT navigable for many boaters.
• The Underline bridge will provide a clearance of barely 9 feet at mean high tide. Its a little better than what we currently have but not much. We've achieved this change from the Underline thanks to your advocacy as their original bridge was the same height as US1.
• The proposed Underline bridge is NOT accounting for the impacts of climate change on the Coral Gables waterway. Who builds a bridge for today? Bridges are 20 year+ structures and must account for any future sea level rise.
• We have consulted with a bridge design expert and we've designed a higher bridge while still meeting all ADA and safety requirements of the Underline bridge. Furthermore, it does not require any elevation and/or slope changes to the current Underline bridge design.
• Our new bridge design elevates the bridge to 11 feet at mean high tide and 14 feet at mean low tide. This elevation matches the height of all other north of US1 bridges on the waterway.
• Our bridge design follows a proven and well respected bridge engineering method called upturn beams, whereby steel beams are wrapped up on the bridge vs down on the bridge. 
• This simple engineering technique gets us 3 additional feet to 11 feet of clearance at mean high tide and it's a win-win for all. 
• We urge all City Commissioners to support our new bridge design and require Miami Dade County , who's designing and building the new bridge, to adopt our design.
• We also urge the City Commission to negotiate contract language with Miami Dade County that requires them to redo any Underline bridge in the future if and when the US1 and/or Ponce bridges are updated to a height that is higher than the proposed Underline bridge. This insures that we don't get stuck with another low bride in the event the US1 and Ponce bridge are updated in the future. It's likely that both bridges will require an update soon as they are both over 20 years old and too low.

Thank you for your continued support. Please take the time to either attend the meeting in person and/or via zoom and COMMENT so they hear us.

If you can also call each commissioner to communicate the same messaging , maybe we can make a difference and get the Underline bridge built correctly the first time around. I suspect tomorrow will be our last shot at influencing the Underline bridge height. After tomorrow we will be stuck with whatever decision the City makes on our bridges. Let's make a last effort to get this right!

Kind regards

Manny Portuondo