As the City of Hialeah celebrates 100 years since its founding, city officials are looking to stay true to the community's moniker: "The city that progresses."
On Tuesday, outgoing Mayor Esteban Bovo Jr. gathered with city council members and U.S. Representative Mario Díaz-Balart to kick off a new infrastructure project in one of the city's eastern neighborhoods that will update roads, sidewalks and storm drainage in an area that was plagued by flooding.
"The residents have complained. They've said that the west is the only neighborhood that gets attention, and not the older part of our city in the east," Bovo said during the ribbon cutting ceremony. "So there was a wish and a compromise in our budget to get the money to do this project in this neighborhood."
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The project area runs from East 8th Ave to East 10th Ave, and from East 41st St to East 49th Street. Work crews have already begun to dig up existing asphalt on the residential streets to make way for wider ADA-compliant sidewalks, new street lighting and an updated drainage system.
"There wasn't enough drainage. During 2020 we got a lot of calls while there were heavy rainfalls and there was rain that went all the way up to their homes. It was terrible," said Hialeah councilmember Monica Perez.
The unveiling was one of the last actions by Bovo as Hialeah's mayor, as he announced his intention to step down to take a job at a lobbying firm in Washington, D.C. His last day in office is this Sunday, April 27. Under Hialeah’s city charter, the president of the council, Jacqueline Garcia-Roves, will become interim president for the remainder of Bovo’s term. Hialeah will elect a new mayor in November.
The roadway improvements will be funded in part by a $3 million federal appropriation part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act signed by President Biden in 2022.
Representative Díaz-Balart celebrated the funding and the infrastructure project hand-in-hand with the city's centennial. He presented the city with a U.S. House Resolution commemorating the city's 100th anniversary and honoring moments in Hialeah's history, like the opening of the Hialeah Park Race Track in 1925 and aviator Amelia Earhart's departure from the city in 1937 during her final journey.
"We're celebrating the 100th anniversary of this amazing community. This is a city that has been vibrant, that is a big part of Florida and of the country," Díaz-Balart told WLRN.
The city followed the ribbon cutting with a street-naming ceremony, dedicating parts of East 4th Ave as "Lincoln Díaz-Balart Way" in honor of the Congressman's late brother and former U.S. Representative who died last month.
Construction on the infrastructure improvements is expected to last until November.
