Well, I guess 'Alligator Alcatraz' is supposed to be operational tomorrow, 7.1. Those of you that aren't from south Florida probably have no idea how isolated this place is. It's actually not as isolated as it was when I first started going down there to work on crab traps, during the off-season, back around 1976. But it's still in the middle of nowhere compared to either one of the coasts to the east or west. Construction began in 1968. It was originally intended to be the Everglades Jetport and it was originally scheduled to be the largest airport in the world at that time. Construction was halted in 1970 due to massive environmental objections and the failure of one of Boeing's proposed jet projects. The property still belongs to the local government and due to the one extra large runway it was named the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport and was used until recently as a landing/take-off training area for large jets.
The renovated facility is located just north of the Tamiami Trail, U.S. 41 and slightly closer to Miami but about halfway between Naples and Miami. Different people pronounce Tamiami differently, but people who are from that area and have lived there since before there was a Tamiami Trail, pronounce it as Tami (like the girls name) and ami (like the girls name without the T) (/ˈtæmiˌæmi/)
No, Alligator Alley and Tamiami Trail are not the same road. Both roads have gone through several confusing road designations but Alligator Alley is now I-75 and Tamiami Trail still goes by that name but is also U.S. 41.
Quiz: Can you correctly name the 3 reptiles shown below. We have all three in Florida, so it would be handy to know which one is tearing you apart if you wander into the wrong waterway.