OLD BUSINESS  1.

COMMITTEE MEMORANDUM

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

HISTORY:

The Venetian Causeway is the primary route for bicyclists and pedestrians between the City of Miami Beach and the City of Miami. Over the past years, staff has observed vehicular traffic increases on the Venetian Causeway.  These increases may be attributed to the increasing demand and congestion on other primary causeways (i.e. MacArthur Causeway and Julia Tuttle Causeway).  However, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) traffic count station on the bridge does not have any data beyond 2015 due to multiple construction projects along this causeway which have disrupted travel patterns over the last couple of years.  At its June 30, 2017 meeting, the Neighborhood/Community Affairs Committee (NCAC) discussed an item regarding concerns with the frequency of bridge activity causing traffic congestion and delays.  

The East Venetian Bascule Bridge is located between Belle Isle and Rivo Alto Island. Its operation and maintenance is under the jurisdiction of Miami-Dade County.  Currently, the bridge operates on both a restricted and on-demand schedule depending on time-of-day and day-of-week.  Bridge openings on the weekdays (Monday-Friday) from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM are restricted to every half-hour on the half hour and full hour marks for five (5) minutes each.  Emergency Vessels (e.g. Fire Rescue and Police), tug barges and boats, and U.S. Coast Guard vessels are all exempt from the bridge opening restrictions.  The bridge opens on-demand for all vessels during weekends.

Based on the concerns expressed by the members of the NCAC, at the June 30th, 2017 meeting, Transportation Department staff presented data for one (1) full month of bridge activity.  The data did not show a significant amount of activity in conflict with the current restrictions.  At the meeting, the NCAC directed staff to compile more bridge activity data and return to NCAC for discussion after the summer.

ANALYSIS:

Since the June 30th NCAC meeting, Transportation Department staff has coordinated with the Miami-Dade County Department of Transportation and Public Works staff to obtain six (6) months of bridge activity data (March 2017 - August 2017) to create a statistically representative sample.  Below is breakdown of the data obtained:

* Unauthorized Openings: Openings occurring on weekdays between 7:00 AM and 7:00PM that were not performed on the half hour or full hour marks or for exempt vessels.

CONCLUSION:

The analysis of the data reflects that over 99% of bridge activity over the 6-month period evaluated was in compliance with  the current bridge opening schedule.  Notwithstanding, Transportation Department staff will continue to request and review bridge opening logs periodically to ensure that bridge openings are occurring in accordance with the current restrictions.

A traffic study would need to be conducted to determine the impacts that the current level of bridge activity during rush hour/peak periods has on the level of service of the Venetian Causeway and whether further restrictions would be warranted.

This item is being presented to the NCAC for discussion and input.