HISTORY:
The intersection of 41st Street and Alton Road is one of the principal intersections in the City of Miami Beach. This intersection serves as the gateway to the Middle-Beach Neighborhood from the I-195/Julia Tuttle Causeway. At the May 16, 2018 City Commission meeting, at the request of Commissioner Gongora, the City Commission referred a discussion item to the Neighborhood/Community Affairs Committee regarding the potential addition of an eastbound right turn lane at this intersection.
In 2016, the City of Miami Beach adopted its Transportation Master Plan. One of the projects recommended in the Adopted Transportation Master Plan Project Bank is an eastbound auxiliary right turn lane from SR112/Julia Tuttle Causeway/Arthur Godfrey Road/41st Street off-ramp to southbound SR 907/Alton Road. The project, as proposed in the Transportation Master Plan, is intended to serve as a "queue jumper" for buses traveling eastbound on the Julia Tuttle Causeway to be able to quickly make a right turn and travel southbound onto Alton Road, but would benefit all vehicular traffic making this movement. The project scope entails reconstructing the existing eastbound shoulder of the Julia Tuttle Causeway off-ramp and constructing a new lane to provide additional capacity for motorists who wish to turn right (south) onto Alton Road.
It is worth highlighting that this intersection is under the jurisdiction of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and, as such, any modifications to the existing intersection configuration must be reviewed and approved by FDOT.
Currently, FDOT is working on an I-195/Julia Tuttle Causeway Corridor Improvements Planning Study. The City is a member of the Technical Steering Committee for the planning study. The study scope includes a review of multimodal mobility along I-195/Julia Tuttle Causeway and will make recommendations for safety and mobility improvements along the corridor, including a feasibility analysis of an off-road shared-use path along the corridor to serve pedestrians and bicyclists and increase safety and connectivity. The study limits include the intersection of 41st Street/Alton Road. The proposed off-road shared-use path was also identified as a priority project in the City's Transportation Master Plan. The FDOT Planning study is scheduled to be completed in August 2019; however, once the planning study is completed, FDOT expects to initiate a Project Development and Environment (PD&E) Study which will likely require a couple years to complete. Once the PD&E Study is completed, the design phase would be initated. Based on typical FDOT timelines for these types of major projects on limited access Interstate Highway facilities requiring federal coordination, construction of the recommended improvements, contingent upon funding, would occur sometime between 2025 - 2030.
Given the extended timeline of the FDOT I-195/Julia Tuttle Causeway Corridor Improvements project, and the fact that the proposed eastbound right turn lane is a recommended improvement in the City's Adopted Transportation Master Plan, on June 5, 2018, the Transportation Department staff submitted a request to the FDOT District 6 Traffic Operations Office to conduct a feasibility analysis for the proposed reconstruction of the outside shoulder of I-195/Julia Tuttle Causeway off-ramp and construction of a new dedicated right turn lane to facilitate motorists and buses who need to make a right turn and travel south onto Alton Road in advance of reaching the intersection.