At the February 1, 2023 City Commission meeting, Commissioner Kristen Rosen-Gonzalez sponsored a referral to the Public Safety and Neighborhood Quality of Life Committee (PSNQLC) to discuss a pedestrian safe crosswalk on Collins Avenue in Mid-Beach.

State Road (SR) A1A/Collins Avenue is a major north-south arterial roadway in Miami Beach under the jurisdiction of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). Within the Mid-Beach area, from 44 Street to the 4800 Block, Collins Avenue consists of three (3) travel lanes in each direction separated by a curbed landscaped median, sidewalks on both sides, and some on-street parking on the east side.  From the 4800 Block to 5875 Block, Collins Avenue consists of three (3) travel lanes in each direction separated by a curbed landscaped median, sidewalks on both sides, no on-street parking, and a two-lane northbound only service road on the east side of the roadway, separated by a raised concrete separator, to provide access to the abutting residential condominiums and hotels on the east side of the corridor. The roadway is bounded by Indian Creek waterway on the west and has a speed limit of 35 MPH.  From the 5875 Block to 63 Street in Mid-Beach, Collins Avenue has three (3) lanes in the northbound direction only, no service road, and speed limit of 30 MPH. In this section, Indian Creek Drive serves as the parallel southbound roadway facility to the west.

Due to its existing wide configuration and limited number of signalized intersections within the Mid-Beach area, Collins Avenue currently has limited opportunities for additional safe pedestrian crossings. From 44 Street to 63 Street, there are currently 16 existing east-west pedestrian crosswalks at signalized intersections. However, the length of each of these blocks is long, and some blocks do not have any crosswalk, thus often requiring pedestrians to walk significant distances to access a safe and signalized pedestrian crosswalk.

For several years, the Administration has been working with FDOT to enhance pedestrian and bicycle safety throughout the Collins Avenue corridor in Mid-Beach. On September 12, 2018, the City Commission adopted Resolution No. 2018-30510 urging FDOT to initiate a multimodal mobility planning study with the goal of improving pedestrian and bicycle safety along the corridor. The City transmitted the adopted Commission resolution to the FDOT District Six Secretary on October 26, 2018 (attachment).

Pursuant to the City’s request, FDOT initiated the Collins Avenue Multimodal Corridor Planning Study and is nearing completion of the study. The purpose of the study is to identify, develop, and evaluate multimodal improvements addressing existing and future mobility for all modes of travel including pedestrians, bicycles, motorists, and transit. The study evaluated various design concepts to address the possibilities to repurpose the service road, improve walkability, increase the overall comfort for all users, and connect users within and beyond the study area.

The FDOT study recommends the implementation of long-term transformative mobility improvements along Collins Avenue in Mid-Beach, including installation of additional crosswalks to enhance pedestrian safety and a bi-directional bicycle path on the west side of the street adjacent to Indian Creek waterway to improve bicycle mobility and connectivity along this critical north-south arterial in our City. FDOT is scheduled to present the findings and recommendations of its planning study, and next steps, at the April 18, 2023 PSNQLC meeting as part of a separate agenda item. Once FDOT completes its planning study, it would need to initiate a project development and environment study prior to initiating the design phase of the project. At this time, however, the future phases of this project are not funded in the FDOT Work Program.

Given the current configuration of Collins Avenue which requires pedestrians to cross at least six (6) lanes of bi-directional vehicular traffic, providing short-term pedestrian crossing solutions, such as the installation of LED pedestrian flashing beacons, are not considered safe measures for a major thoroughfare of this type. Only fully-signalized pedestrian crossings either at intersections or mid-block locations with overhead traffic signals that stop all vehicles on red would be considered safe pedestrian facilities for a wide and highly traveled roadway such as Collins Avenue in the Mid-Beach area.

Considering the pedestrian safety needs along the Collins Avenue corridor coupled with the limited opportunities for short-term pedestrian improvements, it is essential that FDOT fund and advance its proposed long-term multimodal project on Collins Avenue as expeditiously as possible. For the project to move forward, FDOT must secure the support of the City Commission and community for the future long-term project during the planning phase.

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