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Article Courtesy of The
Miami Herald
By Douglas Hanks
Published January 23, 2020
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Hoping to defuse a fight to kill Formula 1’s arrival at Hard Rock Stadium, the
Miami Dolphins on Tuesday unveiled a new track design and schedule for the auto
race that would drop a county roadway from the route and avoid overlap with
local school times.
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A day before county
commissioners are set to consider anti-F1 legislation, the
Dolphins’ press office released the new rendering of the
Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix race scheduled to arrive in May
2021 and return each year after that.
Residents opposing the event call it a nuisance, bringing
excessive noise and air pollution to a city that’s already
regularly exposed to the disruption that comes with an NFL
stadium that’s increasingly adding events to its calendar,
such as April’s two-week Miami Open tennis tournament. The
Dolphins, joined by the administration of Mayor Carlos
Gimenez, reject claims of health concerns related to F1
cars’ exhaust and engine noise and call the race a welcome
boon to the local economy.
“The Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix is another example of a
world-class event coming to our region,” Dolphins CEO Tom
Garfinkel said in a statement announcing the race changes.
The revised course drops Northwest 199th Street from the
race layout, eliminating the need to close the public road
for the event. A Dolphins spokesman said dropping 199th
Street from the course means no public roads would be used
for the race, and regular traffic would flow around the
stadium in the same way it does for NFL games and concerts.
The announcement also said Formula One
would delay practice races the Friday before the main event
“in order to ensure that there isn’t any disruption to local
schools.” |
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The Miami Dolphins are trying to bring a Formula 1
race to Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, but residents are
fighting the plan. On Tuesday, Jan. 21, the Dolphins announced a new
design of the track that avoids the use of public roads in an effort
to address residents’ concerns. A leading resident group said it
will continue to fight the race.
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Combined, the announcement represents the first significant retreat from the
original “F1” plans since Dolphins owner Stephen Ross backed off his
original effort to run the race in downtown Miami this year. While the
stadium’s customized zoning rules allow for running auto races there, a
county ordinance up for a final vote Wednesday would subject those races to
city approval. The Dolphins could appeal a rejection by Miami Gardens to the
County Commission.
“Don’t bring the race into our bedroom community,” sponsor Barbara Jordan,
the county commissioner representing Miami Gardens, told a town hall last
week. “We don’t want it.”
Jordan did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. Sam Dubbin, a
lawyer representing homeowners associations surrounding the stadium, called
the announcement “very unfortunate gamesmanship” that “does nothing to
address the most serious impact of the race.” He pointed to concerns about
hearing damage for children and the elderly living nearby.
Karen Hunter Jackson, a Miami Gardens resident helping organize opposition
to the race, said Tuesday the changes would not end community efforts to
block the event.
Dropping “199th Street is irrelevant. It’s the entire area that will
suffer,” she said. “As long as it’s in our community where there are homes
and people, it’s a problem.”
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