To enhance the pedestrian and bicycle experience between the Ocean Drive, Española Way, and Lincoln Road Mall commercial and entertainment corridors, the Transportation and Mobility Department has engaged a transportation planning consultant to develop a comprehensive connectivity plan. The planning study is exploring options for public right-of way improvements, both short and long term in nature. The study is being coordinated with key city departments, including Transportation and Mobility, Planning, Tourism and Cultural Development, Economic Development, Public Works, and Office of Capital Improvements.
The study, entitled "South Beach Promenade Connectivity Feasibility Study", will identify and assess existing transportation conditions and recommend multimodal transportation improvements to create a safe and interconnected promenade by providing walkable sidewalks, pavement treatments, improved and connected bike lanes, character landscaping, wayfinding and branding, streetscape enhancements, decorative lighting, and transit amenities. The study will explore tactical urbanism strategies, including pedestrianizing Española Way between Washington Avenue and Collins Avenue and incorporating pavement art, and evaluating a potential road diet (lane reduction) and conversion to a one-way traffic pattern along Drexel Avenue to create opportunities for wider sidewalks and bicycle lanes.
The study is predicated on the development of both a short-term, high-impact strategic framework and on planning services for long-term, involved implementation components focused on establishing and strengthening a connection between Ocean Drive at 14 Place to Collins Avenue, connecting to Española Way westward to Drexel Avenue, and continuing along Drexel Avenue north until it meets Lincoln Road, providing direct access to Soundscape Park. The study will also evaluate an alternate connection along Pennsylvania Avenue with the goal of providing a more direct route to the Miami Beach Convention Center and future Hotel and the new Pride Park.
The scope of the South Beach Promenade Connectivity Feasibility Study includes:
· Community and stakeholder engagement
· Traffic data collection and traffic study (including a traffic flow modification analysis)
· Issues and opportunities analysis
· Conceptual design of tactical urbanism solutions
· Conceptual cross sections of long-term improvements
· 3D renderings
· Project phasing recommendations and construction cost estimates
The traffic analysis findings and recommendations and concept designs will require review and approval by Miami-Dade County and the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) given the proposed pedestrian promenade will traverse and modify rights-of-way under County and FDOT jurisdiction.
Draft concepts for short-term/temporary enhancements will be presented to the City Commission by October 2021. Draft concepts for permanent infrastructure improvements will be presented to the Commission by January 2022. Since alternative concepts and cost estimates have not yet been developed by the consultant team, funding for design and construction of the proposed South Beach Promenade project has not been identified at this time.