At the May 4, 2022 City Commission meeting, Commissioner Steven Meiner referred this item to the Public Safety and Neighborhood Quality of Life Committee for discussion.
The intersection of Royal Palm Avenue and 46 Street is located within the Orchard Park neighborhood and currently operates as a four leg, two-way stop-controlled intersection. The eastbound and westbound approaches on 46 Street are stop-controlled while Royal Palm Avenue traffic is not controlled. Both Royal Palm Avenue and 46 Street are classified as local roadways. The existing north-south crosswalks to cross 46 Street have been recently upgraded to high-emphasis crosswalks on the east and west legs of the intersection (Attachment 1).
The evaluating criteria for multi-way stop signs are outlined in the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration’s Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). The MUTCD specifies the minimum criteria that must be met prior to installation of a multi-way stop control at an intersection. The criteria are based on crashes and traffic volumes (vehicular, pedestrian, and bicycle) at an intersection over various periods of time, including peak periods.
In Miami-Dade County, the approval, implementation, and maintenance of traffic control devices is under the jurisdiction of Miami-Dade County Department of Transportation and Public Works; however, to expedite the approval process, City’s Transportation and Mobility Department conducts most of the warrant analyses for multi-way stop controls, pedestrian flashing beacons, and traffic signals in-house and works with the County to expedite the installation, if a traffic control device is warranted.
In October 2017, the Transportation and Mobility Department conducted a warrant analysis to evaluate the need for an all-way stop control at the intersection of Royal Palm Avenue and 46 Street. Volumes and crash data were evaluated as part of the analysis. The results of this analysis did not warrant an all-way stop control or any other applicable traffic control and/or safety enhancement device at this intersection at that time.
In April 2019, following continued concerns with pedestrian and vehicular safety at the intersection of Royal Palm Avenue and 46 Street, the Transportation and Mobility Department staff conducted a second all-way stop control warrant analysis. The results of this subsequent analysis reaffirmed that an all-way stop was not warranted at this intersection at that time. As an alternative short-term traffic calming measure, the Department recommended the installation of a temporary traffic circle at this intersection. However, members of the community, including the affected property owners whose concurrence is required pursuant to the City’s traffic calming procedure, did not support a temporary traffic circle at that time. As such, the concept was discarded.
In November 2021, the Transportation and Mobility Department staff initiated the Orchard Park Neighborhood Traffic Calming Study. Given the intersection of Royal Palm Avenue and 46 Street is located within this neighborhood, the study is proposing various traffic calming improvements in the vicinity of this intersection to enhance vehicular and pedestrian safety, further described in the Analysis section of this memorandum.
It is worth highlighting that according to the 2019 City of Miami Beach Resident Survey, 74% of respondents expressed that they are most concerned/dissatisfied with pedestrian safety (vehicles not yielding to pedestrians) when crossing an intersection. As such, expediting the implementation of traffic control improvements to enhance pedestrian safety at intersections is a priority for the Administration.