NEW BUSINESS  16.

COMMITTEE MEMORANDUM

KEY INTENDED OUTCOME:
Ensure Comprehensive Mobility Addressing All Modes Throughout The City

HISTORY:

The adopted 2016 Miami Beach Transportation Master Plan (TMP) was built on a mode share goal and modal prioritization strategy adopted by Resolution 2015-29083 on July 8, 2015, which places pedestrians first; transit, bicycles, and freight second; and private automobiles third.  Projects in the TMP are intended to move Miami Beach towards this mode share vision by increasing pedestrian, bicycle, and transit travel.

The TMP recommended the Neighborhood Greenways as a way to help reach this mode share vision.  Neighborhood Greenways, as defined in the TMP, are streets where cars are not excluded, but allow for bicycle and pedestrian travel to be comfortable for all ages and skill levels. Greenways can be accomplished through lower vehicular traffic speeds, landscaping to enhance the bicycle and pedestrian experience, and/or context-sensitive roadway design. The results of which improve the safety for all users of the roadway.

In summary, the goal is for Neighborhood Greenways to be so appealing that they encourage bicycle use for recreational riders and trips within Miami Beach.  Neighborhood Greenways will also reduce regional greenhouse gas emissions, and align with Miami Beach’s resiliency program and the goals of the 100 Resilient Cities partnership.

The North Beach areas recommended by the TMP for Neighborhood Greenways include:

• 85th Street between Hawthorne Avenue and Collins Avenue;

• 81st Street between Hawthorne Avenue and Collins Avenue;

• 77th Street between Hawthorne Avenue and Collins Avenue; and

• Tatum Waterway between 77^th Street and 81^st Street.

On May 17, 2017, the Transportation Department issued a Notice to Proceed to Zyscovich Architects for a Feasibility Study evaluating implementation of Neighborhood Greenways in North Beach.  A kickoff meeting initiated the studies and ensured that City Staff and the consultant team agreed on project deliverables and schedule.

The consultants then conducted field reviews and reviewed existing plans and studies to better understand the context and current conditions of the study area. From that review, initial design options were created for review by staff.  The approach was to work toward a comprehensive network of bicycle facilities in North Beach

On August 7, 2017, the first public meeting was held to present the study to the public and invite community feedback.  The overall response from the community was positive.

The North Beach Neighborhood Greenway concepts were then refined and reviewed extensively with Transportation staff and internal Miami Beach stakeholders.  Four (4) concept review meetings were held with internal stakeholders on July 19, 2017, October 25, 2017, November 6, 2017, and March 19, 2018.  Attendees included representatives from the Office of Capital Improvement Projects (CIP), Emergency Management, Parking, Planning, Public Works, Sustainability, Tourism, Culture, and Economic Development (TCED) Departments.  The Transportation, Parking and Bicycle-Pedestrian Facilities Committee reviewed the North Beach Neighborhood Greenways concepts on April 9, 2018 and June 11, 2018.

Transportation Department staff also coordinated with the City and consultant teams working on the Plan NOBE, the West Lots Master Plan, and the Ocean Terrace planning efforts.  The North Beach Greenway concepts were discussed extensively with the various teams at the West Lots Charrette on April 30, 2018 and the Ocean Terrace Plan review meeting on June 29, 2018.  A key coordination issue was replacement parking for any on-street parking displaced by the proposed Neighborhood Greenways.  Replacement parking can potentially be accommodated by new parking along the east side of the Collins Court Alleyway, on the west side of the West Lots.  The City and consultant teams were supportive of creating this new parking opportunity for replacement parking in the community. 

The North Beach Neighborhood Greenways concepts were also reviewed with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) on February 23, 2018 and Miami-Dade County Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTPW) on April 11, 2018.  Input was received on bicycle box placement and incorporated into the design.  Bicycle crossing concepts will be finalized during the design process.  Final draft concept plans will be sent to both FDOT and DTPW for final review and approval.

A second public meeting was held on December 11, 2018 at 6PM at North Shore Youth Center to review the final concept plans with the community.  Approximately 25 community members attended the meeting.  The community supported the recommendations of the North Beach Neighborhood Greenway Feasibility Study.

ANALYSIS:

The proposed North Beach Neighborhood Greenways are important for North Beach because they will provide alternate means of transportation in a highly congested, moderate income neighborhood of Miami Beach.  The Neighborhood Greenways are also consistent with the ideas proposed in Plan NOBE, the West Lots plan, and the Ocean Terrace plan.   A map of the proposed North Beach Neighborhood Greenway is shown in Attachment 1. 

In the Biscayne Beach area of North Beach, sharrows and enhanced landscaping are proposed for 85^th Street, 82nd Street, and 81st Street.  Travel lanes and parking widths are adjusted slightly to accommodate the increased landscaping.  On the north/south connecting streets, sharrows are proposed to complete the network in this neighborhood of North Beach.  Implementing the proposed Neighborhood Greenway concepts on these streets will cause no parking impact to the community.  Attachment 2 shows a proposed concept for 81st Street in Biscayne Beach.   

Between Byron Avenue, Dickens Avenue, and Collins Avenue, a series of Neighborhood Greenways are proposed with enhanced landscaping and bicycle lanes.  Bicycle lanes are important in this area of North Beach because they complete the existing, fragmented bicycle lane network in North Beach, address bicycling safety needs identified in Miami Beach resident surveys, and provide a potential economic benefit of car-free living in North Beach as the bicycle lanes connect to the free Miami Beach Trolley system.

The proposed Neighborhood Greenways on 85th Street and 81st Street include parking-protected, buffered, bi-directional bicycle lanes with enhanced landscaping. Both streets maintain two-way travel lanes.  On 85th Street, this is achieved by shifting travel lanes to the north and narrowing parking lane width and travel lanes slightly.  Twenty-one (21) on-street parking spaces on the north side of the street would be impacted but could be relocated to the proposed parking spaces on the east side of Collins Court.  A new 2.5’ bioswale with landscaping is proposed to be placed between the parking-protected, buffered bicycle lane and the south sidewalk, narrowing the sidewalk slightly to 4’.  On 81st Street, space is gained for a greenway by converting the angled on-street parking on the south side of the street to parallel parking spaces and narrowing the travel lanes and parking width slightly.  On the south side of the street, four (4) on-street parking spaces would need to be removed and relocated to the proposed parking spaces on the east side of Collins Court.  A new 2’ bioswale with landscaping is proposed to be placed between a proposed parking-protected, buffered bicycle lane and the on-street parking.  Sidewalk widths are proposed to remain at 5’ 6”.

A pair of Neighborhood Greenways is proposed for 77th Street and 78th Street.  On 77th Street, the existing two-way travel lanes are proposed to be converted to a one-way travel lane in the eastbound direction between Dickens Avenue and Collins Avenue.  A traffic study will be required for the one-way conversion of 77th Street.  A parking-protected, buffered bicycle lane and landscaped strip is proposed on the south side of the street.  There is no impact to on-street parking on 77th Street.  Attachment 3 depicts the proposed greenway concept for 77th Street.  78th Street will remain one-way in an eastbound direction.  Angled on-street parking is proposed to be converted to parallel parking, and a new landscaped strip would be added between the sidewalk and a new parking-protected, buffered bicycle lane on the north side of the street.  Sixteen (16) existing on-street angled parking spaces on the north side of the street would need to be relocated to either the proposed parking spaces on the east side of Collins Court and 79^th Street or to the future North Beach parking garage potentially to be located at West Lot 1, between 79^th Street and 80^th Street.

Parking relocation for 85th Street, 81st Street, 78th Street, and 77th Street will be accommodated on the east side of Collins Court on West Lots Blocks 1-6.  The block-by-block parking analysis and the graphic showing the proposed parking layout on the east side of Collins Court are included in Attachment 4.

Tatum Waterway is a critical connector between the existing bicycle lanes, filling the bicycle lane gap between 79th Street and 81st Street.  A parking-protected, buffered, bi-directional bicycle lane is proposed for Tatum Waterway.  A parking-protected, buffered, bi-direction bicycle lane is also proposed along Byron Avenue between 81st and 82nd Streets, as the connector between Tatum Waterway and the existing bicycle lanes beginning at 82nd Street.  On Tatum Waterway between 77th Street and 81st Street, conversion of the existing two-way travel lanes to a one-way travel lane in the northbound direction is proposed.  There is no impact to on-street parking on Tatum Waterway.  

Bicycle connections across Tatum Waterway are made through bridges at 85th Street, 81st Street, and 77^th Street.  Sharrows will be painted on the bridges.  There is potential for the 81st Street bridge to be widened as part of a future project to accommodate bicycle lanes as both sides of the bridge are in public ownership; however, widening the 81st Street bridge to accommodate bicycles is not part of the proposed North Beach Greenways and should be evaluated as part of a future study.  Bicycle boxes are recommended at the intersections of Byron Avenue with 85th Street and 82nd Street, as well as Dickens Avenue and 77^th Street to accommodate bicycles crossing to the bridges.

The Byron Avenue Neighborhood Greenway is able to be achieved between 81st Street and 75^th Street.  Travel lanes and parking lane widths are narrowed slightly to accommodate a new 3’ landscaped strip adjacent to the east sidewalk.  Sharrows are proposed for Byron Avenue. 

Bicycle crossing markings should be installed across Collins Avenue at 85th Street, 81st Street, 78th Street, and 77nd Street.  These concepts should be further developed during the design process.

The estimated cost of this network of Noorth Beach Neighborhood Greenways is $6,504,962.   Funding and implementation will need to be coordinated with future resilience projects in North Beach.  Funding has not been identified for the North Beach Greenways at this time.  

CONCLUSION:

The proposed North Beach Neighborhood Greenways will be important to the community because they will support redevelopment of North Beach by increasing mobility options, calming traffic, and improving pedestrian and bicycle safety and connectivity though the addition of sharrows (i.e. shared lanes) and buffered bicycle lanes..  Moving this project forward will advance the implementation of the TMP, increase bicycle safety, improve multi-modal options, reduce congestion, decrease greenhouse gas emissions, and help the City reach its future mode share goals. 

The Administration and the community support the concepts proposed in the North Beach Neighborhood Greenway Feasibility Study.  If the proposed concepts are endorsed by the Neighborhood/Community Affairs Committee and the City Commission, the Administration will work toward implementation in coordination with North Beach resilience projects.