At its February 10, 2021 meeting, the City Commission referred an item, sponsored by Commissioner Steven Meiner, to the Neighborhood and Quality of Life Committee (NQLC) to discuss the proposed flyover routes established by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

BACKGROUND

In 2019, the FAA commenced the environmental assessment for proposed flight path modifications as part of the South Central Florida Metroplex.  The South Central Metroplex is one of 12 metroplex projects in the Country.  The objectives of the Metroplex projects are to enhance the way aircrafts navigate complex air space, improve airport access, and make flight routes more efficient.  The South Central Florida Metroplex includes Miami International Airport (MIA) and other airports in the southern half of Florida.

During the Project Development and Environment phase of the Metroplex project, the FAA and its consultants held four public workshops in the Greater Miami area from April 29 to May 2, 2019 to discuss the proposed air traffic changes.  City staff attended the workshop in Miami Springs on May 2, 2019 to understand the potential impacts of the proposed flight paths on Miami Beach.  The City’s Transportation and Mobility Department engaged Kimley-Horn and Associates (KHA), a firm with aviation experience, to attend the workshop, review all available project material from the FAA, and develop a technical memorandum outlining the potential impacts to Miami Beach.

Following an in-depth review of the FAA’s environmental assessment for the South Central Metroplex, KHA determined that there would be no significant adverse effects to the City as a result of the proposed flight paths, and that the City would benefit from the proposed consolidated flight paths. The results of KHA’s review were shared with the City Commission via Letter to Commission # 239-2020 dated July 7, 2020 (Attachment 1).

Currently, most of the east departures fly over the South Beach and Middle Beach areas of the City.  Under the proposed Metroplex plan, east departures are proposed to be routed south of the City (over Virginia Key).  North departures are proposed to be re-routed west of Miami Beach over Biscayne Bay, thus avoiding flight paths over Miami Beach (Attachment 2).

Current arrival patterns affecting Miami Beach will be modified slightly as part of the future Metroplex to reduce their overall effects on the City; however, certain sections of the City may see a higher concentration of overflights.  Currently, many of the north arrivals perform their west turns over Miami Beach.  Under the proposed Metroplex, aircrafts will fly further east over the Atlantic Ocean on the downwind legs prior to turning west toward the runway approaches.  The overflights will be mostly concentrated approximately between the Venetian Causeway and Julia Tuttle Causeway.  The approximate altitude of these overflights will range between 2,000 and 3,000 feet.

Update at and since the March 22, 2021 NQLC Meeting

At the March 22, 2021 NQLC meeting, the City’s consultant presented the results of its independent review of the FAA Metroplex study and provided their professional opinion on the potential effects of the future Metroplex project on Miami Beach.  At the meeting, Vice Mayor Josh Fuller of Bay Harbor expressed concerns with the flight routes proposed in the South Central Metroplex and stated that the FAA is currently partially deploying the new flight patterns at MIA on a pilot basis.  The Committee requested that the City confirm this information and provide an update on the status of the Metroplex project at the April NQLC meeting.  However, the item was deferred at the April and May NQLC meetings.

The City’s consultant recently communicated with the FAA to confirm the current status of the South Central Metroplex project and if any partial or pilot deployment has occurred in advance of the scheduled implementation.  The FAA South Central Metroplex project team advised that no partial implementation of the Metroplex plan has occurred to date.  Project deployment is anticipated to occur in August 2021.