Contractor behind Palmetto Bay bridge project stirs controversy

A bridge construction project in Palmetto Bay is causing controversy after community members flagged the contractor selected to build the bridge.

It’s the same company that held the contract for the FIU bridge that collapsed in 2018, killing six people.

Nearly every seat was taken inside the Village of Palmetto Bay’s council chambers Thursday during a special August meeting to discuss concerns over the building of the SW 87^th Avenue bridge over a canal.

Several people in attendance were wearing t-shirts with the words “no bridge.” Gilbert Viera was one of them.

“It’s not needed,” he said. “First of all, this bridge is going to move traffic for 12 blocks because it dead ends in 12 blocks, so it’s a fallacy that this is going to alleviate traffic for anybody.”

However, not all his neighbors agreed. Madeline Roman had a much different message on her t-shirt, which said "Facts Matter."

“The bridge is going to improve our safety, it’s going to provide safe routes for school, and at the end when you most need EMS, it helps them,” she said.

But the main topic at the meeting did not focus so much on the purpose of the $4.5 million bridge but rather, who’s building it.

MCM won the bid and was awarded the contract by Miami-Dade County.

The company was also the contractor for the FIU bridge that collapsed in 2018.

The National Transportation Safety Board blamed the fatal flaw on the design by a different company, an engineering firm called FIGG. However, MCM has still received criticism.

Eric Zichella, a lobbyist for MCM, attended the meeting and defended the construction company’s record.

“MCM is a contractor in good standing, they have 19 other contracts with Miami-Dade County,” said Zichella. “They finished 14 bridges since the FIU collapse.”

Zichella called the meeting a shenanigan.

“These are just shenanigans to try to delay a transportation project that is necessary to reduce traffic for the broader community,” he said.

But Mayor Karyn Cunningham said the purpose of the meeting was about trying to get answers.

“For me personally this is not about politics, it’s simply about a conversation that has arisen from the community that’s kind of grass roots grown,” Cunningham said.

The project is already underway, and MCM plans to continue building despite delays after Palmetto Bay entered litigation with Miami-Dade County over the project.

Another concern brought up during the meeting was the bidding process to select a contractor for the project, a process that a representative of Miami-Dade County Public Works discussed during the meeting. Cunningham said the council will review the information received during the meeting and will be reaching back out to Mayor Levine-Cava about this issue.