The entertainment district serves many visitors and residents on a daily basis.  Ocean Drive in particular serves as the focal point for many special events attracting millions of people every year.  The City Commission would like to improve safety and functionality of Ocean Drive through the use of activations, placemaking, and tactical urbanism.

The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) defines tactical urbanism as a methodology which allows cities to experiment, expedite project implementation, and gather immediate results for mobility and safety by using mostly temporary materials and tactical interventions that are low-risk and temporary.

The City has implemented temporary and semi-permanent tactical urbanism projects in previous years, including the closure of Rue Vendome between 71 Street and Normandy Drive (Attachment) which allowed for programming and place-making.  A tactical urbanism event that was successful on a temporary basis in the City was Ciclovia along Washington Avenue from 5^th Street to Lincoln Road which closed the street to vehicles and allowed bicycles and other non-motorized modes as well as event programming and family-friendly activations.

At the January 15, 2020 City Commission meeting, a discussion item regarding piloting the closure of 9 Street between Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue was sponsored by Commissioner Ricky Arriola and referred to the Land Use and Sustainability Committee.

9^th Street between Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue is a City street; however, pursuant to Miami-Dade County home-rule charter, all traffic engineering functions including traffic control, traffic signalization, and street closures are under the County’s purview and jurisdiction.  In advance of this item, Transportation and Mobility Department staff communicated with County staff to discuss the process for a pilot.  The County advised that if the street is closed for a special activation during a weekend or short-term special event, the City would only need to obtain a maintenance-of-traffic permit from the County, such as the case for the temporary one-way traffic flow modification implemented by Police during special events.