The City’s beachwalk is a highly utilized shared-use path that serves recreational and work trips throughout the City.  It is the public trail with the highest volume of activity in Florida; however, its popularity coupled with its constrained width contributes to frequent conflicts among pedestrians, bicyclists, and other users resulting in numerous crashes, including some with serious injuries.  An additional concern for residents as well as the Administration is the intermixing of pedestrians and unauthorized motorized/electric devices, including electric stand-up scooters, electric bikes, and electric skateboards, among other motorized devices operating illegally on the beachwalk.  Although Section 70-67 of the City Code prohibits motorized means of transportation on the beachwalk, among other pedestrian facilities throughout the City, the growing popularity of these electric devices poses a significant safety concern for pedestrians and an enforcement challenge for Police.

Pursuant to the recommendation of the Neighborhood and Quality of Life Committee (NQLC) at its March 4, 2020 meeting, various city departments, including Police, Communications, Property Management, and Transportation and Mobility, collaborated to develop a holistic approach to address the pedestrian safety concern on the beachwalk through better signage and enhanced enforcement.  This effort resulted in the installation of 142 new regulatory signs along the beachwalk and at all beachwalk entrance points to assist Police and Park Rangers with enforcing applicable provisions of the City Code.  In addition, the City installed 70 advisory signs along the beachwalk to advise users that the area is a pedestrian-friendly zone where permitted/non-motorized devices such as bicycles, skates, and skateboards must slow down and yield to pedestrians.

In March 2021, the Miami Beach Police Department initiated a daily beachwalk pedestrian safety detail entitled “Clear Path”.  Since the beginning of 2022, Police Officers and Park Rangers have conducted regular enforcement of the beachwalk, including enforcement of Section 70-67 of the City code prohibiting motorized means of transportation on the beachwalk.

At the July 21, 2021 NQLC meeting, to further enhance pedestrian safety on the beachwalk, Transportation and Mobility Department staff presented a preliminary concept for a potential pilot project consisting of segregating cyclists and pedestrians through striping and signage along a typical 15’ wide section of the beachwalk.  The pilot is intended to evaluate user compliance  and effectiveness.   The Committee recommended that the Administration return to the September 2021 NQLC meeting with more details on the pilot, including scope and cost.

At the September 20, 2021 NQLC meeting, Transportation and Mobility Department staff presented a refined concept for a pilot project including the location, approach and methodology, duration, and cost.  The Committee did not take action on this item.  

At the October 29, 2021 NQLC meeting, the Committee recommended that the City move forward

with the pilot project and collaborate with the Middle Beach Neighborhood Association (MBNA) to

deploy the pilot as expeditiously as possible.

In November 2021, Transportation and Mobility Department staff coordinated with MBNA representatives on the parameters of the pilot program.  Following various discussions and walk-throughs of the pilot segment, the City and MBNA jointly identified key issues that needed to be addressed prior to the roll-out of the pilot, including trimming landscape encroachments from private properties and overgrown vegetation from the dunes and removing excessive amounts of sand from the beachwalk which were reducing the effective width of the path.  To address this issue, the Marketing and Communications Department worked with Code Compliance to issue warnings and citations to private properties for improper maintenance of the landscape resulting in the encroachments.  Additionally, Greenspace Management staff trimmed the dune vegetation.  While not all the encroachments were fully addressed, City staff committed to monitor the pilot segment closely and conduct trimming and sweeping as needed to ensure a clean and clear path and maximize the potential for a successful pilot. 

At the May 17, 2022 Public Safety and Neighborhood Quality of Life Committee (PSNQLC) meeting, the Administration provided an update on the deployment of the pilot.  The Committee recommended that the Administration provide a status update at the June 2022 PSNQLC meeting; however, the item was deferred in June. 

Given that approximately 70% of the entire length of the beachwalk is only about 15 feet wide, the beachwalk segment between 15 Street and 24 Street was identified by staff as a representative and suitable location for the pilot given its 15-foot width and the high amount of pedestrian and bicycle activity that occurs daily along that segment.  The pilot location was also endorsed by the Police Department.  This segment is approximately 4,800 feet in length with various access points and is currently monitored by over 10 police cameras which are being utilized to collect key data and analytics during the pilot program and help staff evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot.

The Transportation and Mobility Department staff worked with the MBNA, and the Parking, Police, and Communications departments to plan and deploy the pilot project on Memorial Day Weekend.  The pilot consists of a painted white line along the approximate centerline of the 15 feet wide beachwalk providing a width of 8 feet for two-way bicycle travel on the east side of the facility and a width of 7 feet for two-way pedestrian travel on the west side of the facility.  Painted symbols on the beachwalk pavers help guide bicyclists and pedestrians to their appropriate side.  Additionally, contextual signs were installed along the pilot segment advising users of the rules of the pilot.  The signs include a QR code to connect users to a project website where they can provide input and feedback on the pilot. Attachment A depicts a sketch of the current pilot configuration and contextual signage.

Since the onset of the pilot program, staff has been conducting field observations, reviewing user feedback, and collecting and analyzing the following data through the pilot:

•  Volumes of pedestrians and bicyclists traveling along the pilot segment
•  User compliance with the pilot demarcation (i.e. number of pedestrians encroaching into the bicycle space and number of bicyclists encroaching into the pedestrian space) 

While the goal of the pilot program is to achieve the separation of pedestrians and bicyclists on the beachwalk, data analysis and field observations conducted by the City staff concluded that separation between the modes is not viable and that the pilot has resulted in significant safety concerns due to the high amount of pedestrians and bicyclists traveling in opposing directions within a constrained space, as well as user expectations and behavior.  The current pilot configuration requires bi-directional bicycle traffic to operate along an 8’ wide path which significantly increases the risk of a head-on collision between bicyclists traveling in opposite directions as well as the severity of such accidents.  

Pedestrian and bicycle volumes were evaluated for three consecutive days (May 31 to June 2), at three locations (15^th, 20^th, and 21^st streets), during both morning peak (7AM – 9AM) and afternoon peak (5PM – 7PM).  The data shows a 60% higher usage in the afternoon as compared to the morning hours.  For both morning and afternoon peak periods, the data shows that the volume of pedestrians is three times greater than the number of bicyclists and that pedestrians frequently intruded into the bicycle space (and vice-versa).  

User feedback regarding the current pilot configuration has been overwhelmingly negative, particularly from bicyclists who do not feel the configuration is safe.  Users stated that the pilot provides insufficient space to accommodate bicyclists traveling in both directions on only one side of the beachwalk.  Some users stated that they will not follow the rules of the pilot.  Most users suggested that the pilot be modified to consist of a single line along the center of the beachwalk and that pedestrians and bicyclists both travel on their right side consistent with the rules for driving on our roadways.     

In light of staff’s analysis, observations, and user feedback, the Administration recommends discontinuing the current pilot and implementing a modified pilot configuration from 15 Street to 24 Street consisting of a white solid line along the centerline of the beachwalk with directional arrows and symbols/signs on both sides guiding all users to keep right while walking and biking (Attachment B).  While this configuration will not achieve the original goal of mode separation, staff believes that it will provide a safer configuration for pedestrians and bicyclists to share the same space while traveling in the same direction.  The recommended configuration relies on the basic rules of the road where slower traffic stays to the right and faster traffic passes on the left.  To supplement the painted markings, staff will install contextual signage in accordance with the recommended pilot configuration, if approved. 

Funding for the recommended modified pilot is included in the Transportation and Mobility Department’s FY 2021/2022 Operating Budget.

Enforcement of No Motorized Rides

In furtherance of ongoing City initiatives on the beachwalk, the Police Department continues to have a proactive daily officer presence throughout the Beachwalk utilizing overlapping departmental resources.  Since May 2021, the Police Department has staffed a daily Beachwalk overtime detail consisting of a dedicated officer to proactively address public safety concerns and violations.  In addition to the dedicated officer on overtime, the Police Department has also conducted Tactical Response to Area Concerns (TRAC) initiatives, which encompass sections of the beachwalk within the affected TRACs.  These TRAC details involve multiple police resources from Patrol Operations, Redevelopment Agency (RDA), and Homeless Resource Officers (HROs) depending on the area and focus of the initiative.  Police resources assigned to the beachwalk were further augmented after the school year ended by reassigning School Liaison Officers (SLOs) to work on the beachwalk during the dayshift.  The SLOs will remain in this capacity until the new school year commences.  Attachment C includes the enforcement statistics for May and June 2022.