NEW BUSINESS  8.

COMMITTEE MEMORANDUM

KEY INTENDED OUTCOME:
Ensure Comprehensive Mobility Addressing All Modes Throughout The City

HISTORY:
Miami Beach Senior High School has a current enrollment of approximately 2,500 students. The school drop-off for parents is on the east side of Prairie Avenue between Dade Boulevard and the 2500 block of Prairie Avenue. All school bus operations occur from the school bus loop accessible from Dade Boulevard. Over the past years, the City has reviewed operations during morning drop-off hours and afternoon pick-up hours to assess congestion, safety, and identify improvements to the area.

Prairie Avenue is an urban collector under the jurisdiction of the City; however, by Miami-Dade County Home-Rule Charter, all traffic control (signalization, signage, and pavement markings, including school signage and flashing beacons) is under the jurisdiction of Miami-Dade County. Currently, there is signage on Prairie Avenue to warn drivers of the school zone limits and speed; however, there are no school zone flashing beacons on Prairie Avenue. During the morning drop-off hours, Prairie Avenue experiences significant congestion which impacts driver behavior and pedestrian safety.

In 2018, a member of the school’s Parent/Teacher/Student Association (PTSA) submitted a request to the City regarding addressing safety concerns during morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up as well as the poor condition of the pavement on Prairie Avenue following a recent roadway construction project. In addition, the PTSA member requested that school zone flashing beacons be installed on Prairie Avenue to enhance the school zone. In response to this request, the City’s Office of Capital Improvements Projects completed the milling and resurfacing of Prairie Avenue from 34th Street to Dade Boulevard which addressed the concerns with the pavement condition. Further, the City’s Transportation Department completed the installation of pedestrian flashing beacons at the intersection of Prairie Avenue and 23rd Street in the summer of 2018 to improve safety for students crossing Prairie Avenue. In an effort to improve the drop-off and pick-up operations for Miami Beach Senior High School, the City’s Transportation Department coordinated with the County to upgrade the current school signage and drop-off zone signage (see Attachments A and B). In addition, the City’s Police Department has allocated resources to assist with traffic management during the morning drop-off period at the school.

In 2016, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) published new design standards for school zones requiring flashing beacons for all roadway approaches. As a result of coordination with residents and following a site visit during the morning drop-off period, City staff submitted a request to the County for installation of upgraded school zone flashing beacons at Miami Beach Senior High School. In April 2018, County staff advised that it does not have a long-term plan or the resources to upgrade flashing beacons for all 800 schools maintained by Miami-Dade County.

Based on the County’s response, in April 2018, the City’s Transportation Department submitted an application to FDOT for Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) federal grant funding for pedestrian safety enhancements in the vicinity of Miami Beach Senior High School. As part of the grant application, City Transportation Department staff identified various improvements to enhance pedestrian connectivity and safety along the corridors adjacent and connecting to Miami Beach Senior High School. The recommended improvements include school zone speed limit flashing beacons on Dade Boulevard and Prairie Avenue, restriping of existing crosswalks, and additional signage improvements.

On June 21, 2018, the Miami-Dade Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) approved Resolution # 30-18 approving the 2018 TPO Program Priorities. The Miami Beach Senior High School Pedestrian Enhancements Project was included in the priorities list and approved for funding. The total federal funding awarded to the City’s project is $218,794. Of this amount, approximately $190,000 will be used to fund the Dade Boulevard school zone beacons and related improvements, and $30,000 will be used to fund the Prairie Avenue school zone beacons and related improvements. The federal grant funds are programmed for construction in State Fiscal Year 2024 (which begins on July 1, 2023).

ANALYSIS:
Since the award of the grant, City staff has had various discussions with FDOT to look for ways to advance the grant funds in order to expedite the project. Given that the grant award does not include funds for design, FDOT stated that it cannot approve advancing construction funds at this time until the design has commenced. The City will be commencing design in October 2019.

The installation of flashing beacons and other safety improvements on both Prairie Avenue and Dade Boulevard are important to enhance pedestrian safety in the vicinity of Miami Beach Senior High School. Given the urgency to improve pedestrian safety particularly on Prairie Avenue, the City believes that waiting until 2023 to begin the installation of the proposed school zone beacons on Prairie is not a viable option in terms of addressing the school’s and the community’s present safety issues, thus, the City has explored two options to potentially advance the installation of the Prairie Avenue improvements:

1. Use city funds to pay for the installation of the school zone beacons and subsequently request reimbursement from FDOT once the grant funds become available in 2023. To ensure the City is reimbursed in 2023, FDOT advised that the City would need to comply with the state’s Local Agency Program (LAP) process. However, given the complexity of the LAP process in terms of the design process, interagency agreements, procurement requirements, and construction documentation required, it is anticipated that the time saving associated with this option would be negligible and installation of the beacons would likely occur in 2022 at the earliest.

2. Use city funds to expedite the installation of the school zone beacons without following the LAP process. Under this option, the installation could be advanced to January 2020. The cost to the City for design and construction of the school zone beacons on Prairie Avenue would be approximately $30,000; however, under this option, the City would forego this portion of the grant funds. Should the FCWPC recommend this option, the installation would be funded from the Transportation Department’s FY 2019/20 operating budget.

CONCLUSION:

Given the urgency to enhance the safety of the school zone on Prairie Avenue in the vicinity of Miami Beach Senior High School, the Administration recommends moving forward with option 2 above.  The Transportation Department's FY 2019/20 operating budget can accommodate the $30,000 cost of installing two 15MPH school zone beacons on Prairie Avenue.