The adopted 2016 Miami Beach Transportation Master Plan (TMP) was built on mode share goal and modal prioritization strategy adopted by Resolution 2015-29083 which places pedestrians first; bikes, freight and transit second; and private automobiles last.  Projects in the TMP are intended to move Miami Beach towards this mode share vision by increasing pedestrian, bicycle and transit travel and making Miami Beach less car-centric.

The TMP recommended Neighborhood Greenways (also known as bicycle boulevards) as a mobility alternative for various corridors throughout the City to help reach the mode share vision identified in the master plan. Neighborhood Greenways, as defined in the TMP, are streets where cars are not excluded, but allow for bicycle and pedestrian travel to be safe and comfortable for users of all ages. This can be accomplished through lowering vehicular traffic speeds by implementing traffic calming features, landscaping to enhance the bicycle and pedestrian experience, and/or safe and context-sensitive roadway design.

The TMP recommends Neighborhood Greenways along various corridors in North Beach:

• 85 Street between Hawthorne Avenue and Collins Avenue

• 81 Street between Hawthorne Avenue and Collins Avenue
• 77 Street between Hawthorne Avenue and Collins Avenue
• Tatum Waterway between 77 Street and 81 Street

On May 17, 2017, the Transportation and Mobility Department issued a Notice to Proceed to a consultant for a planning study evaluating the feasibility of implementing Neighborhood Greenways in North Beach. The planning study included input from the community, internal stakeholders, and the Transportation, Parking, and Bicycle-Pedestrian Facilities Committee. Overall, community feedback on the concepts was positive. Transportation and Mobility Department staff also coordinated with the consultant teams working on the Plan NOBE, the West Lots Master Plan, and the Ocean Terrace planning efforts to ensure consistency.

One of the principal issues identified through the feasibility analysis was the lack of parking availability in the area which required identifying replacement parking to mitigate any on-street parking displaced by the proposed Neighborhood Greenways.  Collins Court, adjacent to the west lots, was identified in the planning study as a potential location for future replacement parking.

Public meetings were held on August 2017 and December 2018 to review the concept plans with the community. Overall, the community supported the recommendations of the North Beach Neighborhood Greenway Planning Study.

The final concepts identified in the planning study proposed the following improvements:

• 85 Street – neighborhood greenway west of Byron Avenue and bi-directional buffered bike lanes east of Byron Avenue

• 82 Street – neighborhood greenway west of Crespi Boulevard
•  81 Street - neighborhood greenway west of Crespi Boulevard and bi-directional buffered bike lanes east of Byron Avenue
• 77 Street and 78 Street – one-way protected buffered bike lanes between Dickens Avenue and Collins Avenue
• 77 Street – neighborhood greenway west of Dickens Avenue
•  Hawthorne Avenue and Crespi Boulevard – neighborhood greenways
• Byron Avenue – neighborhood greenway south of 81 Street
• Tatum Waterway Drive – one-way reconfiguration with buffered/protected bike lanes between 77 Street and 81 Street

The recommendations of the planning study were discussed at the February 6, 2019 Neighborhood/Community Affairs Committee. At the meeting, the Committee recommended that the City initiate a traffic study to evaluate the potential one-way conversion of Tatum Waterway Drive and pursue the proposed planning study recommendations, while ensuring no parking would be lost prior to a garage being built in the area. This recommendation was adopted at the March 13, 2019 City Commission meeting by Resolution 2019-30745.

The proposed bicycle lane on Tatum Waterway Drive is identified in the TMP as a critical connector between the existing bicycle lanes on Byron Avenue, Dickens Avenue, and 77 Street. The proposed protected bike lanes provide a connection to Biscayne Elementary School and Lehrman Community Day School. Given that protected bike lanes are more appealing to inexperienced bicyclists, it is anticipated that these bike lanes will be used by parents and students traveling to/from the schools. In terms of connectivity, the proposed protected bike lanes would connect to a project in the planning stage which includes a shared-use path connecting Park View Island to Biscayne Elementary on 77 Street. With the recent conversations regarding potential changes to land use/development on Tatum Waterway Drive to a more commercial base, protected bike lanes have been shown to increase economic resilience.

Pursuant to Commission direction, in May 2019, the Transportation and Mobility Department engaged a consultant to conduct a traffic study to evaluate the one-way conversion of Tatum Waterway Drive, from 77 Street to 81 Street, in order to accommodate the desired buffered/protected bicycle lanes along the corridor.

Tatum Waterway Drive is currently a two-lane undivided roadway with a posted speed limit of 25 miles per hour. The corridor is classified as a local road; however, it becomes a minor collector when it intersects Dickens Avenue (north of 79 Street). The corridor is approximately 0.34 miles long and connects to Biscayne Point Elementary and the Lehrman Community Day School on 77 Street. Tatum Waterway Drive currently provides for continuous traffic flow in the southbound direction while northbound travel is stop-controlled at 79 Street.

Tatum Waterway Drive was evaluated to determine which direction of travel flow would be more advantageous in terms of traffic operation, circulation, and accessibility; however, the main purpose of this analysis was to determine the feasibility of a one-way conversion of Tatum Waterway Drive to improve bicycle connectivity and safety along the corridor. The evaluation was performed using two industry standard traffic modeling software (SERPM and Synchro 10.3).

Existing Condition Analysis

48-hour volume counts were collected to determine the travel patterns of the area. The data indicated that northbound and southbound volumes are fairly evenly distributed throughout the day. It is worth highlighting that the origin-destination study of the corridor showed that a large percentage of the northbound trips do not begin or end on Tatum Waterway Drive; thus, these trips are considered cut-through traffic and create congestion as well as stress for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Three daily peak traffic periods were studied as part of the analysis (7:45 AM to 8:45 AM, 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM, and 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM). Turning movement counts were collected during all three daily peak hours on Tuesday, May 14, 2019; Wednesday, May 15, 2019; Tuesday, May 21, 2019; and Wednesday, May 22, 2019.  Given that two schools are located in proximity to Tatum Waterway Drive, weekend traffic counts were not collected as they would not be representative of the peak traffic periods in the area.

The study area for the analysis is bound by Tatum Waterway Drive to the west, Byron Avenue to the east, 77 Street to the south, and 81 Street to the north. Intersection capacity/level of service (LOS) analyses were conducted for all eighteen intersections within the study area. The intersection capacity analysis for existing conditions indicate that all study intersections currently operate at LOS D or better. LOS D is the commonly accepted LOS for intersections within an urban environment.  

Future Condition Analysis

The first step in evaluating future conditions was to determine the appropriate direction for the street based on existing and future data. Two factors were used in determining the appropriate direction of traffic flow for Tatum Waterway Drive: 1) the potential to reduce cut-through traffic and 2) current school pick-up/drop-off operations.

Based on the simulation results and the data analysis, it was determined that the southbound only configuration would reduce cut-through traffic along Tatum Waterway Drive by about 80% during the AM peak hour and 76% during the PM peak hour as compared to northbound only. The reduction of cut-through traffic would improve the quality-of-life of residents along the corridor and would encourage more pedestrians and bicyclists to use Tatum Waterway Drive.

The second factor considered was future access modifications to the Lehrman Community Day School. The modification to the school access plan, as approved at the July 22, 2020 Design Review Board, proposes that all vehicles egress onto Tatum Waterway Drive. Due to existing one-way streets within the study area (78 Street and 79 Street), if Tatum Waterway Drive was northbound only, the route for vehicles dropping-off students at the Lehrman Community Day School would be more circuitous. Based on the results of the analysis, a southbound only traffic flow would work better for school drop-off. Northbound vehicles would use Dickens Avenue to 79 Street and then divert to Byron Avenue.

Intersection capacity/LOS analyses were conducted for all eighteen intersections within the study area. The intersection capacity analysis for the southbound only configuration indicated that all study intersections will continue to operate at LOS D or better.  Based on the above analysis, staff recommends that Tatum Waterway Drive be converted to one-way southbound.

Given that one-way streets generally have more speeding than two-way streets, the alternative configurations studied as part of this analysis focused on reducing the travel lane widths and implementing landscaped bulb-outs at intersections and mid-block locations to calm traffic as a result of the one-way configuration. Additionally, observations conducted by staff throughout the neighborhood suggest that single lane roadways with on-street parking on both sides are not conducive to speeding.

Proposed Typical Sections

Several southbound only configurations were evaluated for feasibility based on existing design standards and best practices. The two main criteria used in evaluating the proposed configurations were as follows:

• Minimizing loss of on-street parking resulting from implementation of bicycle lanes
• Complying with a minimum unobstructed pavement width of 20 ft. as required by the National Fire Protection Agency and adopted by the City of Miami Beach to allow for large emergency vehicle access and operation

Based on the above criteria, two southbound only alternative configurations for Tatum Waterway Drive were found to be feasible (Attachment):

• Alternative 6 - repurposes the northbound travel lane to add two 4 ft. bike lanes and 2 ft.  buffers on both sides of Tatum Waterway Drive. This alternative maintains all existing on-street parking and 5 ft. wide sidewalks on both sides of Tatum Waterway Drive.

• Alternative 7 - repurposes the northbound travel lane to add a bi-directional buffered bike lane on the west side of Tatum Waterway Drive separated from the travel lane and parking lane by 2 ft. buffers. This alternative maintains all existing on-street parking and 5 ft. wide sidewalks on both sides of Tatum Waterway Drive.

The consultant compared both alternatives utilizing an evaluation matrix. Although both alternatives scored very similar in most categories, Alternative 7 performed better in reducing potential conflicts with side-street vehicles and on-street parking. In addition, the necessary space for the bi-directional buffered bike lanes under Alternative 7 is 2 ft. less than the conventional bike lane configuration proposed under Alternative 6. This would create an opportunity for potential future sidewalk expansion/landscaping. It is worth highlighting that neither of the alternatives impacts existing on-street parking or access to any property or existing driveway along the corridor.

While both alternatives are feasible, based on the findings of the traffic analysis and taking into consideration the potential of each alternative to accommodate future landscaping and/or sidewalk widening, staff recommends moving forward with Alternative 7, pending community input.

Next Steps

Following the discussion at the October 19, 2020 Neighborhood and Quality of Life Committee (NQLC) meeting, the City will host a virtual community meeting to present the draft traffic study and concept alternatives to the North Beach community. The meeting will be scheduled for early November 2020. The draft traffic study will also be presented to the Transportation, Parking, and Bicycle-Pedestrian Facilities Committee in November 2020. Subsequently, staff will submit the draft traffic study to Miami-Dade County for review and approval. Once approved, staff will present the final recommendation, including the results of the community meeting and County review, to the NQLC at a future meeting.