At its January 31, 2024 meeting, the City Commission approved a referral to the Public Safety and Neighborhood Quality of Life Committee to discuss renaming the "Tatum Waterway Walkway" to "Tatum Waterway Nature Trail" and consider proposed improvements to revitalize the trail.

The Tatum Waterway Walkway, also known as Crab Alley, is a small trail that connects Park View Island to 77th Street.  This trail is an asphalt paved, walking/bike route that offers beautiful, secluded canal views, and small fishing spots along the entire trail. 

In its current state, the trail faces challenges such as broken sections of the asphalt path that are settling and overgrown vegetation with roots that are uplifting sections of the asphalt walkway.  

To draw attention to the trail's potential, the Park View Island Sustainable Development Association wishes to propose the renaming of the pathway to the "Tatum Waterway Nature Trail," and implementing improvements which will include repairing/replacing the asphalt path to enhance walkability and safety, improving lighting along the trail to ensure visibility and security, adding trash cans and doggy waste stations, and introducing creative native landscaping to enhance the trail's aesthetics.

There is an existing seawall along the pathway, which the Public Works Department is planning to design, permit, and construct a living shoreline.  Should Public Works be able to build the pathway adjacent to the living shoreline, staff could potentially mitigate the loss of mangroves with new mangroves or native species at the same time, thereby reducing the environmental impact of the project.  This process would require environmental regulatory approval, which can take approximately twelve (12) months, depending on the requirements placed on the permit approval by the regulatory agencies.

There is funding available for the design portion of the Living Shoreline under the Public Works Department's seawall prioritization funding source.  Funding for additional design and construction would need to be requested and allocated to cover the asphalt pathway.  The design portion of the pathway project in conjunction with the living shoreline project is estimated to take a minimum of two years.

There is a large segment of the site on which the living shoreline and pathway projects (collectively, the “Projects”) would be developed (“Project Site”) in which both the City and the School Board of Miami-Dade County (the “School Board”) maintain ownership. Additionally, a separate segment of the Project Site is solely owned by the School Board.  As such, consent of the School Board would be required for these segments of the Project Site.  The Administration is in discussions with the School Board to secure confirmation as to whether or not the School Board will agree to transfer its ownership interest of these segments of the Project Site.