transportation plans over the next decade. By the middle of 1969, bonds for construction of the South Dade Expressway were being secured from the Turnpike Authority; however, plans for the expressway were revised and incorporated into wider plans involving the West Dade Expressway (what would become the HEFT) in 1970, which included a toll of ten cents and a shift of the South Dade Expressway to the northern side of the Seaboard railroad north of Galloway Road (Southwest 87th Avenue). Funding was secured in 1971, and a construction end-date was set for early 1973. This did not eventuate due to difficulties to acquire land for the expressway's right-of-way, resulting in the final section of the South Dade Expressway, between Kendall Drive and the Palmetto Expressway, opening at midday on July 31, 1975. In 1983, the South Dade Expressway was renamed by the Florida Legislature to the Don Shula Expressway, in honor of the Hall of Fame head coach of the Miami Dolphins NFL team. Tolls along the Don Shula Expressway were collected at the southern toll plaza until July 17, 2010 when, as part of MDX's rollout of electronic tolling across its owned roads, the road was converted to open road tolling at the same time as the adjoining Snapper Creek Expressway. Initially, tolls were $0.25 for SunPass users at the southern gantries and $0.50 at the northern gantry, with a $0.15 surcharge for motorists using the toll-by-plate system at all gantries. The toll-by-plate rate increased on July 1, 2013, while the SunPass rate was unaffected. Future As part of its long-term plans for the region, MDX is seeking to improve access to the Don Shula Expressway from its surrounding communities, particularly from the areas west of the HEFT. Notably, MDX has launched a project to build exit and entry ramps from SR 874 into the Three Lakes district west of its southern terminus, aiming to relieve congestion at the Southwest 120th Street and Coral Reef Drive (SR 992) interchanges with the HEFT by providing alternative access and egress of the area via SR 874. Studies to build the connection ran from 2010 until early 2012, in which six alternative routes for the ramps were suggested: the preferred route sees Southwest 128th Street widened east of Southwest 137th Avenue to four lanes, with flyovers from east of Southwest 122nd Avenue, heading over the HEFT/SR 874 interchange, to merge with SR