State Road 907/Alton Road is an arterial roadway under the jurisdiction of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). While Alton Road is mostly commercial south of Michigan Avenue, the corridor is predominantly single-family residential between Michigan Avenue and 63 Street in Middle Beach.  In this section of the corridor, Alton Road is a four-lane divided roadway with an annual average daily traffic of 34,000 vehicles per day. There are not many crosswalks or traffic signals along this section of the corridor which, coupled with the number of horizontal curves between 41 Street and 63 Street, contributes to vehicles speeding and crashes.

Based on historical crash data provided by the Miami Beach Police Department, over 580 crashes, including three fatalities, have occurred along this segment of Alton Road over the past five years. Many of the crashes are related to speeding and loss of control at the curve locations. Based on an analysis of the crash data, Transportation and Mobility Department staff have determined that the crash rate between 2016 and 2021 is about 4.5. For context, roadway segments with a crash rate above 1.0 are considered high crash segments by FDOT.

Given the prevalent speeding and the number of crashes resulting in property damage, the City and residents of Alton Road have been expressing concerns to FDOT for several years with regard to traffic safety on Alton Road between 41 Street and 63 Street. FDOT has responded to some of these concerns over time by implementing various signage and pavement marking improvements and installing several electronic signs as speed mitigation.  However, to date, FDOT has not made any physical improvements to the configuration of the road to effectively mitigate speeding and reduce crashes.

FDOT is currently in the design phase for the future reconstruction of three segments along the Alton Road corridor in Middle Beach:

• Michigan Avenue to south of 43 Street (FPID # 429193-1-52-01)
• south of 43 Street to north of 48 Street (FPID # 430444-1-52-01)
• north of 48 Street to east of Allison Road (FPID # 430444-2-52-01)

While prior signage and pavement marking improvements along Alton Road between 41 Street and 63 Street have yielded limited benefit, FDOT’s planned reconstruction projects offer a much greater opportunity to effectively redesign the road to mitigate speeding and enhance safety of all users - pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists.

The resident concerns with safety and speeding on Alton Road were discussed at the October 29, 2021 Neighborhood and Quality of Life Committee meeting. Residents and representatives from FDOT attended the meeting to discuss the elements of the future reconstruction projects and the importance of including traffic calming and additional pedestrian crosswalks in the projects. At the meeting, the Committee recommended that the City Administration work closely with the area residents to draft a City Commission resolution to transmit to FDOT outlining the concerns and desires of the City and its residents in terms of traffic calming and pedestrian safety improvements along the Alton Road corridor in Middle Beach. Additionally, the Committee requested that FDOT conduct public input meetings and/or charrettes with the area residents to discuss specific design elements to mitigate the concerns of the City and Alton Road residents.

Since the October 29, 2021 NQLC meeting, Transportation and Mobility Department staff has met various times with Alton Road residents to collaboratively develop a comprehensive list of key community needs and priorities in terms of safety, traffic calming, and neighborhood walkability and livability for FDOT to include as part of the design of the future Alton Road reconstruction projects in Middle Beach, including:

• Traffic calming by way of raised crosswalks, speed tables, raised intersections, traffic circles and other similar devices to accomplish the target posted speed limit of 30 miles per hour
• Widen the parking lane to allow for more space to open vehicle doors
• Replace conventional streetlight poles with aesthetic pedestrian-scale lighting contextual to the single-family residential neighborhood
• Add signalized crosswalks to cross Alton Road at 23 Street, Chase Avenue (south leg), 44 Court, 54 Street, 57 Street, 62 Street, and other intersections as appropriate to improve pedestrian safety and allow residents to cross Alton Road safely
• Replace trees and landscape in the median with mature trees to help with traffic calming, walkability, and livability along the corridor
• Install high-emphasis (zebra) pedestrian crosswalks at all crosswalk locations
• Install bulb-outs at all existing and proposed crosswalks and other locations as appropriate to serve as traffic calming and reduce pedestrian crossing distances
• Study the repurposing of the inside lane as a shared through/left turn lane
• Modify the east leg of the intersection of Alton Road and 51 Street to a single entrance and exit and signalize the intersection

While it is crucial that FDOT include the above community-contextual street design elements as part of its future reconstruction projects, it is equally important that FDOT address the immediate concerns with safety and speeding along the corridor. As such, residents are also requesting that FDOT consider implementing the following short-term improvements in advance of the future Alton Road reconstruction projects in Middle Beach:

• Restripe all pedestrian crosswalks as high emphasis (zebra) crosswalks
• Reinstall missing reflective raised pavement markers along the corridor
• Repair broken sidewalks and correct tripping hazards
• Consider installation of “NO TRUCK” signs on Alton Road north of 43 Street
• Reinstall missing ADA detectable pads at pedestrian curb ramps
• Install temporary raised speed humps or other raised traffic calming devices