NEW BUSINESS  7.

COMMITTEE MEMORANDUM

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

HISTORY:

In July 2015, the City Commission adopted a modal prioritization, placing pedestrians first; bikes, freight and transit second; and cars third.  Following this, in April 2016, the City Commission adopted the Miami Beach Transportation Master Plan, Bicycle-Pedestrian Master Plan, Street Design Guide, and Project Bank to guide its transportation infrastructure investments and initiatives over a 20-year horizon.  

The Miami Beach Transportation Master Plan recommended the Complete Streets concepts. Complete Streets are streets for everyone. They are designed for all users, which include pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists, and transit riders of all ages and abilities. Complete Streets make it easy to cross the street, walk to shops, and bicycle to work, and allow buses to run on-time and make it safe for people to walk to and from their destinations.

ANALYSIS:

The 23^rd Street and 63^rd Street Complete Streets Feasibility Studies were initiated in April 2017 with the goal of transforming these streets into “Complete Streets”. The team identified and assessed existing transportation conditions and recommended multi-modal transportation improvements which would increase access and safety for users of all travel modes. Conditions within a 2 to 3 block radius of the study area were reviewed, since they could have an impact on the study area. The Transportation Master Plan was used as the main reference guiding document in the development of the feasibility studies.

Transportation Department Staff worked with the consultant team to establish a review process that was expeditious while allowing for the community to provide feedback at multiple stages throughout the process. A kick-off meeting was held with the consultant team to initiate the studies and ensure that City Staff and the consultant team were in agreement regarding project deliverables and schedule. Bi-weekly update meetings were held with the study team, as well as multiple review meetings with internal City departments to gauge process and provide feedback.

A public input meeting was held on August 7, 2017 at 6PM at the Miami Beach Regional Library to obtain valuable community input and provide direction to the study team. 

Draft deliverables were prepared by the consultant team per the scope of service and generally focused on short, mid, and long-term solutions intended to transform 23^rd Street and 63^rd Street into Complete Streets. Staff has reviewed and provided initial comments to the consultant team.

The concepts for the proposed 23^rd Street Complete Street include:  bicycle lanes, bicycle boxes, parklets, improved traffic flow, space for transit and bicycle sharing, an improved shared-use path connection to the beach, enhanced sidewalks, a traffic circle, a raised pedestrian crossing, and a designated freight loading area.

The concepts for the proposed 63rd Street Complete Street include:  bicycle lanes or a shared-use path, bicycle boxes, a shared bike/transit lane, improved traffic flow, enhanced sidewalks, and a new connection to the beach through Allison Park.

This item was referred at the December 13, 2017 Commission Meeting to the December 20 Neighborhood/Community Affairs Committee (NCAC) meeting.  At the December 20th NCAC meeting, the item was deferred to its January 24th meeting.  After review by the NCAC, the draft concepts will again be presented to the community for comments to further refine the final draft documents. 

CONCLUSION:
This item is provided to the NCAC for discussion and input.