MIAMI – A plan to extend the Dolphin Expressway died in a 3-2 vote in its first public hearing Tuesday, with the specter of having to move Miami-Dade County's urban development boundary to get it done.

Residents of the county's dense western suburbia lined up to plead for the extension.

"My average morning commute takes over an hour and a half, and sometimes two," Patricia Shannon Davis told the county's Governmental Operations Committee.

The plan by the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority was to extend the highway as an alternate commuting route that would take it past the UDB, the imaginary line drawn to stop developments into the fragile Everglades.

"I think you really need to consider the importance of holding that line," said one woman who showed up to the hearing to publicly oppose the extension plan.

Other speakers echoed familiar arguments for holding the UDB in place, including the possibility of urban sprawl, possible contamination of South Florida's drinking water supply and well-fields, and loss of environmental and recreational areas.

Though Tuesday's committee debate was specifically about the plan to extend the Dolphin Expressway, the county's master plan would have to be changed to do so.

"We're not talking about homes. We're talking about relieving the people that are there now. We're talking about an escape route," said Miami-Dade County Commissioner Joe Martinez, who represents some of the neighborhoods affected. "This is to alleviate traffic. Can homes come in the future? Possibly. Nobody knows."

Martinez was on the losing end of the committee vote, which is the end of the line for the plan.