‘Forcing this down our throat.’ Residents push back on Sheridan Street expansion
The air inside the Southwest Regional Library’s meeting room grew thick with frustration on Sept. 30. Dozens of Pembroke Pines residents packed into the small space as Broward County officials explained plans to widen Sheridan Street.
Within minutes, the crowd’s restlessness turned to communal discontent.
For many, the announcement confirmed their fears that the county’s $28 million Sheridan Street expansion was moving forward despite large community opposition.
The project would widen roughly two miles of roadway from Southwest 148th Avenue to just east of Flamingo Road, adding two new lanes during a 20-month construction period. County officials say the plan will improve traffic flow and safety, with travel-time benefits estimated at $1.5 million per year.
What residents are saying
But for longtime Pembroke Pines resident Joshua Rivera, it felt more like a done deal than a discussion.
“Ten minutes into the meeting they’re like, ’OK, so we’re moving forward with this,’” Rivera told the Pembroke Pines News. “And everybody gets up and it’s like, ‘What the heck? You’re moving forward? We thought we were in discussions … and you guys are just forcing this down our throat.’”
Fifteen minutes later, Rivera left the meeting early, frustrated and uncertain about his future in the neighborhood he’s called home for more than two decades. When speaking with his wife, he envisioned a 10-year plan — at the minimum — in their home, but now they’re not so sure.
“That day, I went home and my wife is sending me Zillow homes,” Rivera said. “But God, we love our neighbors.”
Rivera has lived in Pembroke Pines for more than 20 years, six of those in his Pembroke Falls home. He hosts annual Halloween block parties and said the expansion feels like an unnecessary disruption.
“It’s a community — not to sound corny, but we’re a true family,” Rivera said. “My kids are growing up with other kids, and I don’t want to sell my house, but I feel like I’m being forced to.”
He said he recognizes there are traffic issues on Sheridan Street, but believes the county’s solution will do more harm than good.
“There is a bottleneck problem, and there could be a solution to the problem, but the problem doesn’t start at 145th (Avenue),” Rivera said. “The problem starts by the Shell gas station that’s entering Flamingo (Road) … because it bottlenecks there.”
Independent traffic study
Rivera and his neighbors have organized a WhatsApp group — it currently holds 25 residents — to challenge the county’s data. The group has raised around $1,400 to fund an independent traffic study, which they planned to conduct on Wednesday, Oct. 15.
The group said it would conduct the study through a national firm but did not wish to disclose the name for possible scrutiny.
“(The county is) spending $28 million, and I feel like it’s a use-it-or-lose-it mentality. They’re not thinking about the 200 residents that live alongside Pembroke Falls or the Southwest Ranches residents that don’t want it either,” Rivera said.
Rivera’s list of concerns extend beyond traffic flow. He worries about air and noise pollution, safety and the 20 months of construction just a few feet from his backyard.
He also fears property values could decline as the road gets busier.
“I purchased a home with the understanding that it’s a four-lane street,” Rivera said. “I didn’t purchase it with the understanding that it was going to be a six-lane highway.”
Another resident, Tami Caci-Armao, shares that frustration and many of those same concerns.
From her home in the Edgewater neighborhood that overlooks the lake, Caci-Armao said she can see the traffic light from her window, and the thought of the roadway inching closer to her property line worries her.
Caci-Armao has lived in Edgewater for 24 years and said the expansion talk has been circulating for years.
“A couple of years back, I saw people knocking on doors getting signatures because they had heard Sheridan Street was going to expand,” she said. “So that was like the beginning.”
Residents say they felt blindsided
When the project resurfaced, Caci-Armao and her husband attended the Sept. 30 meeting for answers.
Instead, she said they were blindsided.
“The first 18 minutes into the meeting, they say, ‘By the way, we’re going forward with the full expansion,’” she said. “My husband stood up and said, ‘You’re wasting our time here. If you’ve already made a decision, why are we here?’”
Caci-Armao said neighbors left early in frustration. Now, she shares that they’ve taken matters into their own hands.
“We just gathered $1,400 to do a traffic study,” she said. “We feel like they’re lying to us. There’s just not enough traffic to warrant six lanes.”
She is concerned about what the project means for her neighborhood and her home’s value.
“People don’t want to live like that,” she said. “They don’t want to live with more noise and more traffic and more pollution, more health issues …”
Caci-Armao said the group plans was starting its independent traffic study, Oct. 15.
“We’re going to start with one day,” she said. “And then if it’s needed, we’re going to do three days. … They’re saying that there’s 38,000 cars going through here … we don’t believe that.”
Beyond traffic, she fears losing what makes her community special.
“I just feel like adding more traffic to our backyard is going to create such a bad environment for our development and our property values are going to drop,” she said. “So when I sell my house for $200,000 less, that is going to be a comp for the people that are inside.”
At the September meeting, Caci-Armao said more than 100 people showed up.
“There were four people that raised their hand in the meeting that were for this project,” she said. “We are not being heard, especially if they went ahead and made a decision without even asking us. We were blindsided that night.”
For residents such as Rivera and Caci-Armao, the fight against the expansion means preserving the character and calm of their neighborhood.
What the county is saying
But county officials, including Broward County Commissioner Nan H. Rich, say the project addresses broader transportation needs that have been years in the making.
“The county staff is really working on gathering the comments from the HOA, the residents and working with all the people that are the experts on this,” Rich said. “Despite what went on (at the Sept. 30 meeting), we have a lot of very qualified engineers and people working on this.”
Rich was in attendance at that meeting and saw the residents’ frustration first hand.
“I have lived in Weston for 34 years and I take that street all the time and I can tell you that there is a huge difference in the traffic on that road,” she said. “But they’re re-looking at all of it as a result of questions that came up from people to see if there are things that they could do that take those things into consideration as they look at the final project.”
Rich said the planning process is ongoing and must come before the commission for approval. She emphasized the county’s commitment to safety and transparency throughout the planning process.
“I think just the fact that we’ve had two public hearings already and now there’s the opportunity for people to talk with the staff and to let them know what other issues are still of concern to them. I think we’re, we’re trying to be as open and willing to listen as possible,” Rich said.
This story was originally published October 16, 2025 at 9:57 AM.
