Gridlock drains Florida's economic vitality.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

MIAMI _ South Florida's bumper-to-bumper road congestion is no longer just an inconvenience.

The issue, many business leaders, politicians and residents say, is raising the cost of doing business here and is building toward a crisis that threatens to destroy the community's economic vitality.

``It's like termites in the basement,'' said Tony Villamil, a Miami economist. ``It's a slow and steady deterioration, until suddenly the foundation begins to crumble and by then it may be too late.''

In a region where the ability to move goods and people is the lifeblood of the international trade economy, the roads are the veins and arteries that keep the blood flowing. As those arteries become clogged and inefficient, it raises the cost of doing business.

Eventually, when the costs become too high, businesses are forced to seek other alternatives, whether that's moving north to Broward County or fleeing South Florida entirely.

The impacts are already reverberating throughout the community:

_Eagle Brands, Seaboard Marine and Miami International Forwarders all have had to hire more workers, pay overtime or add trucks to keep business moving in traffic.