To ease traffic, Doral invests in sidewalks, bike paths, trolley system

Doral residents, businessmen, police officers, city officials, council members and members of the media on Tuesday filled the city’s council chambers to witness Mayor Luigi Boria give the annual State of the City address.

“The past year has brought challenges, successes and new opportunities,” read a statement printed on the evening program — signed by Boria.

The event featured the usual pomp and circumstance: a presentation of colors led by members of the Doral Police Department’s honor guard. Doral Police Chief Donald De Lucca led the pledge of allegiance. Alberto Castro, a student from Ronald Reagan-Doral High who appeared on Telemundo’s singing competition La Voz Kids, sang the national anthem.

Pastor Steve Alessi of Metro Life Church in Doral gave the invocation. He called for faith, at a time when, he said, there are “so many events that bring fear to our hearts and our lives.”

City Manager Edward Rojas’ introductory remarks highlighted Doral’s attempts to address three primary issues he made the subject of his own annual report earlier in the year: roads, parks and public safety. He referenced a quote by Andrew Carnegie on “teamwork” and “achieving uncommon results.”

“The city has the highest reserves, and the lowest [property tax] rate in its history,” Rojas said. “Doral is better than it’s ever been, and it’s getting better.”

Boria made his way through the crowd, kissing cheeks and shaking hands with those in the audience. The podium was lit by two large spotlights. Before starting his speech, Boria spent a couple of minutes publicly recognizing the several federal, state, county, and local representatives who were in attendance.

When Boria began his address, he alluded to the state of the country when he first became the city’s mayor in 2012.

“At that time, our nation was emerging from one of the greatest economic downturns the world had ever seen,” Boria said. “We were tasked with planning for the future of our community. We entered office facing countywide traffic, development projects — dormant for years — suddenly starting construction, and the demands of our fast-growing community.”

The first issue Boria tackled in his 20-minute speech was traffic. He outlined several road projects taken up by the city’s public works department. The focus of these projects involved “completing the traffic grid” and “creating new roadway connections” to ease the pressure placed on the city’s clogged major roadways.

Some of these include opening up …

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