At its February 10, 2021 meeting, the City Commission referred an item, sponsored by Commissioner Michael Gongora, to the Neighborhood and Quality of Life Committee (NQLC) to discuss Washington Avenue, including the current lane closures.

In May 2020, the City and the Washington Avenue Business Improvement District (WAVE BID) began coordinating a pilot program to assist businesses along Washington Avenue during the COVID-19 Pandemic.   In June 2020, the City Administration met with members of the WAVE BID and Mr. Bernard Zyscovich, principal for Zyscovich Architects, to jointly develop a street concept intended to increase the economic resilience and accelerate the recovery of businesses along the Washington Avenue corridor from 5 Street to 16 Street.  At the meeting, City staff and WAVE BID members discussed the expansion of restaurants into the parking lane through the use of parklets to allow restaurants to increase the number of tables while complying with social distancing guidelines; and repurposing the outside travel lane in each direction to implement a protected bike lane (parking-protected in some sections) to promote safe cycling.  The locations of the desired restaurant expansions were provided by the WAVE BID.  The pilot configuration resulted in a reduction of one travel lane in each direction to accommodate the parklets and protected bike lanes.

Transportation and Mobility Department staff developed the required maintenance of traffic plans for the pilot program within two weeks of the initial request from the WAVE BID and secured a permit from Miami-Dade County with the following conditions:

• All restaurant extensions shall be protected by crash resistant barriers
• Speed limit shall be reduced to 25 miles per hour
• All intersections shall meet intersection sight distance standards
• Monthly updates shall be provided to the County with observations on the pilot for County staff to consider and grant extensions

Pilot Implementation (Figure 1 in Attachment)

The City’s Transportation and Mobility Department coordinated with the Public Works Department to implement the pavement marking and signage modifications along Washington Avenue from 5 Street to 16 Street through one of the City’s contractors.  The pilot was implemented during the first week of August 2020.  The cost of implementation for the Washington Avenue Pilot Project was $62,050.  Given that some of the construction signs and barriers are being rented from a contractor, the pilot has a recurring cost of $2,580 per month.

Following the implementation of the pilot, staff performed observations and installed additional signage to help users understand the new configuration of the corridor.  The signs installed were intended to guide motorists and bicyclists on the new location of the bike lanes and to prevent vehicles illegally parking or staging on the bike lanes.

With the implementation of the pilot project, on-street parking was modified throughout the corridor to accommodate restaurant expansions (parklets).  While some of the parking was eliminated to accommodate parklets, most of the parking was relocated closer to the vehicular travel lane to enable the implementation of a parking-protected bike lane (first of its kind in Miami-Dade County).  It is worth noting that due to the more stringent intersection sight distance requirement established as a condition of the County permit, approximately 18 on-street parking spaces were lost. While the City was able to relocate most of the freight-loading zones within the corridor, three freight loading zones could not be accommodated as part of the pilot due to conflicts with the proposed parklets.  As mitigation, the City is exploring opportunities to create additional freight loading zones along Collins Avenue.

At the present time, the City has approved and permitted 24 parklets/restaurant expansions on Washington Avenue as part of the Restaurant Recovery Outdoor Seating Pilot Program.

December 2020 Pilot Effectiveness Study

Since the implementation of the Washington Avenue pilot, the City and the WAVE BID have separately collected data to track the performance of the pilot.  Using pre-pandemic and pre-pilot data as a baseline, the Transportation and Mobility Department collected traffic, pedestrian, and bicycle data through a consultant to determine the effectiveness of the pilot.  Data was collected in December 2020 and additional data is scheduled to be collected in March 2021.  Based on the data collected, the City determined that bicycle volumes have increased by more than 538 bicyclists per day, and approximately 915 bicyclists are using the corridor daily.  This data is indicative that the parking-protected bike lanes are successful in terms of increasing bicyclist safety, comfort, and use along the corridor.  Data collected in December 2020 by the WAVE BID and validated by Transportation and Mobility Department staff indicated that the average daily bicycle volumes along the corridor between 11AM and 8PM is approximately 723 bicyclists.

Given that the primary goal of the pilot is to increase economic resilience and revenues for restaurants along the Washington Avenue corridor, the City also requested that the WAVE BID track revenue trends for restaurants in the area.  Based on information provided by the WAVE BID, businesses have reported an average increase in revenues of 28% between October and December 2020.  Based on the increase in bicycle volumes and business revenue in the area, it can be concluded that to date, the pilot has met its primary goal of promoting economic recovery during the pandemic.  City staff has also received resident testimony in support of the pilot project.  For example, residents who previously did not visit Washington Avenue have expressed that they are now visiting the restaurants and businesses along the corridor because of the new bike and pedestrian friendly configuration.  

March 2021 Pilot Effectiveness Traffic Study

In March 2021, the Transportation and Mobility Department engaged a traffic consultant to collect the necessary data to continue measuring the effectiveness of the pilot.  Data was collected for two separate 96-hour periods from Thursday, April 1, 2021 to Sunday April 4, 2021 and from Thursday April 8, 2021 to Sunday April 11, 2021.  In addition to the typical data collected to measure effectiveness, the consultant also collected congestion tracking data along Washington Avenue as well as cut-through traffic data at various locations within the Flamingo Park neighborhood given the proximity of the two pilots.  Specifically, the origin-destination data was collected to ascertain if a correlation exists between traffic congestion on Washington Avenue and cut-through traffic in the Flamingo Park neighborhood which can potentially affect the effectiveness of the Flamingo Park slow streets pilot (i.e. how the two pilots affect each other given their proximity). This data was specifically collected during Spring Break to account for worst case scenarios in terms of congestion and cut-through traffic; however, the first weekend of data collection was affected by the City’s emergency orders mandating a curfew in the Art Deco Cultural District.

Based on the data collected, it was determined that daily bicycle volumes on Washington Avenue have increased by 875 bikes per day since implementation of the pilot in August 2020 and by 337 bikes per day since the December 2020 pilot effectiveness study, indicating a positive growth in bicycle trips.

The data showed that the highest congestion period occurred on Friday, April 2, 2021 between 7PM and 9:30PM.   Based on the data collected, the following observations were noted:

•  Southbound Washington Avenue experienced more congestion than northbound throughout the day from about 11AM to 10PM.
•  In comparison to data collected in February 2020 (pre-pilot), traffic volumes on Washington Avenue have decreased by 700 vehicles per day (attributed to reduced capacity); however, when compared to the data collected in December 2020 (with pilot), traffic volumes have increased by 3,310 vehicles per day indicating a positive growth in traffic volumes as traffic conditions return to normal.
•  During the peak hour (9PM) in the southbound direction, the section between 11 Street and 5 Street was most heavily congested; and southbound travel time from 16 Street to 5 Street was an average of 9 minutes.

In addition to congestion data, Transportation and Mobility Department staff directed the traffic consultant to collect origin-destination data to determine how many drivers are cutting through the Flamingo Park neighborhood when Washington Avenue is congested.  Upon evaluating the data, it was determined that:

• Daily cut-through traffic in the Flamingo Park neighborhood due to congestion on Washington Avenue increased from 7-9% in 2019 to 9-11% in February 2021.  The 2% increase in cut-through traffic is considered negligible.

• The preferred corridor for cut-through traffic from Washington Avenue into the Flamingo Park neighborhood is 11 Street with approximately 33% of all cut-through trips.

• Flamingo Park Neighborhood Slow Streets:
  •  Meridian Avenue: traffic volumes and travel times did not fluctuate significantly during periods of congestion on Washington Avenue which suggests that Meridian Avenue is not being used as a cut-through route in lieu of Washington Avenue.
  • Pennsylvania Avenue: travel times were generally longer than along other streets in the Flamingo Park neighborhood; however, the increase in travel time does not correspond with congestion on Washington Avenue which suggests that traffic intrusion or “spill-over” traffic from Washington Avenue onto Pennsylvania Avenue is negligible. 
    
    

Transit Operations (Figure 2 in Attachment)

As part of the Washington Avenue pilot project, County bus and City trolley services were temporarily relocated to Collins Avenue.  Due to the limited right-of-way on Collins Avenue, the relocation of transit service did not include the installation of any permanent bus bays or passenger amenities (i.e. bus shelters); however, temporary benches were installed at the temporary stops.  The relocation of transit service to Collins Avenue included the implementation of some bus bays by removing some of the existing on-street parking; however, these bays are not always available due to curb demand and illegal parking.  This condition causes bus and trolley drivers to frequently stop on the lane of traffic for boarding and alighting of passengers.  Given the low operating speeds for vehicular traffic on Collins Avenue between 5 Street and 15 Street, transit operations along this corridor is highly inefficient, uncomfortable, and unsafe.  One of the main safety concerns resulting from the temporary relocation of transit service to Collins Avenue is that delivery vehicles (often large trucks) frequently stop in the center left turn lane which significantly constricts the space on either side for transit operation.  Miami-Dade Transit staff has expressed significant concerns with regard to the current safety and operation of transit service along Collins Avenue between 5 Street and 15 Street, including:

• Significant amount of large trucks conducting deliveries from the center lane
• Illegal obstruction of travel lanes by ride-share services
• High pedestrian activity and jaywalking along the corridor resulting in frequent stops
• Inability to approach the curb and use the bus bays to serve the temporary stops due to illegal parked vehicles and ride-share vehicles and unauthorized vehicles loading/unloading from the curb

These challenges are adversely affecting the safe operation of transit service, the County’s and City’s ability to provide reliable transit service, and adherence to transit schedules due to significant congestion along the corridor.  As the level of activity continues to increase along Collins Avenue, the above issues and constraints will further impact the efficiency and effectiveness of transit operation. 

To mitigate some of these concerns, Transportation and Mobility Department staff have identified various potential alternatives to implement temporary transit platforms and ramps on Washington Avenue in order to bring transit service back to Washington Avenue in short order under the current pilot configuration.  It is important to note that Washington Avenue is identified in the adopted Miami Beach Transportation Master Plan and the Miami-Dade County Strategic Miami Area Rapid Transit (SMART) Plan as the priority transit corridor in this district.  Thus, all current transit amenities (bus bays and shelters) are on Washington Avenue.  Ultimately, a permanent solution to safely accommodate transit service on Washington Avenue is crucial to ensure mobility along the corridor and compliance with both the City’s and County’s adopted mobility plans.     

Miami Beach Police Department and Fire Department Concerns

As traffic volumes continue to increase in the area, particularly during Spring Break, the Police Department has expressed significant concerns with the current configuration of Washington Avenue during the pilot project, including:

• Increased congestion resulting in gridlock during high demand periods
• Delivery and ride-share vehicles parking on the bike lane (Figure 3 in attachment)
• Scooters, motorcycles, and vehicles driving on the bike lanes during congested periods
• Corridor lacks the space to perform periodic enforcement and conduct traffic stops
• Corridor lacks the 20’ pavement width required by National Fire Protection Association Codes and Standards to accommodate a fire truck with extended outriggers

Traffic Signal Timing Modifications

To mitigate the capacity reduction on Washington Avenue and high demand during Spring Break, the Transportation and Mobility Department worked with Miami-Dade County to modify signal timing along Washington Avenue by adding 30 seconds of green time in the north-south direction for all the signal patterns running between 7AM and mid-night during weekdays and weekends. In addition, staff improved signal coordination to improve traffic progression along the corridor. However, given the single vehicular travel lane configuration adjacent to on-street parking and the lack of left turn lanes at various intersections along the corridor, all parking maneuvers, left turns, and right turns can impact the flow of traffic.  This constant friction is a contributing factor of traffic congestion along Washington Avenue.  It is important to note that increasing the green time for vehicles traveling on Washington Avenue increases the wait time for pedestrians wishing to cross Washington Avenue which can result in more jaywalking.    

Potential Short-Term Options Being Explored

In addition to the option of temporary bus platforms and ramps described above, Transportation and Mobility Department staff is currently exploring other potential alternative configurations to try to improve the effectiveness of the pilot by reducing friction while retaining the parklets and bicycle lanes, minimizing impacts to on-street parking, and improving transit operations.  The preliminary alternatives being explored include temporarily prohibiting left turns and reintroducing a second vehicular travel lane in each direction as a shared bus/transit lane on a pilot basis.  Furthermore, staff is analyzing the feasibility of adding bike lanes on Pennsylvania Avenue as an alternative north-south corridor.

Art Deco Cultural District (ADCD) Visioning Study