Downtown Miami Set To Unveil Miami’s First “Complete Street”
In an effort to improve transportation, the City of Miami is beginning to adopt the “Complete Streets” program in downtown and the first one is set to open this week. By creating dedicated lanes for cars, public transit, bicycles and pedestrians, more people will be able to be moved in the same space and time, while being safer and more convenient.
The first “Complete Street” is set to open this week, with a ceremony on Thursday at 10am on the corner of SE 1st Street and SE 2nd Avenue (at CENTRO). If you are unable to make it to the ceremony, you can already see a preview of the setup. The high visibility lane changes are already in place. The lane painted red is reserved for busses and the lane painted green is reserved for bicycles. Cars will now only use the center lane and bicycles are no longer allowed on the sidewalk.
Do you think the revamp will help to alleviate congestion and safety?
The 8th Street Metromover Station Is Officially Renamed “Brickell City Centre Station”
Photo via Jami Reyes Facebook
The Miami Metromover’s 8th Street Station was formally renamed the “Brickell City Centre Station” this morning in a ribbon cutting celebration with Mayor Gimenez.
During the construction phase of the $1.05 billion mega project, Swire also upgraded the city-owned transit stop and integrated it directly into the third level of the shopping mall, allowing shoppers and residents the ability to come and go from the development without being exposed to the summer showers that Miami is famous for.
For those who are new to the area, the Miami Metromover is a 4.4 mile electrically powered train system that shuttles people around the Greater Downtown area for free. It is automated and air-conditioned, and can drop people in the Brickell Financial District, Miami-Dade College, Bayfront Park, The Frost Museum and PAMM, Omni Mall and now Brickell City Centre.
There are also transfer stations in Downtown and Brickell that allows people to transfer to the Metrorail, accessing the University of Miami, the Jackson Medical Center hospital district, the Miami International Airport and more. “The Mover,” as it is commonly called, is extremely convenient to people in the Downtown area, and even more now that we can access Brickell City Centre directly.
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Biscayne Boulevard’s Parking Lots Are Transforming Into A Popup Park For January
Image Courtesy of Prism Creative Group
In order to demonstrate what can be achieved if people abandon their cars for transit options, a pop-up park is coming to the parking lots along Biscayne Boulevard in Downtown Miami this month. The event launches on Friday, January 6 with a free concert and runs through January 26 with events for all ages each day.
Some of the pedestrian-friendly options we will see are:
Puppy Brunch
Sweat Circuit by Lululemon
Local Vendors
Food Trucks From Local Eateries
Free films on the “Biscayne Screen”
If you’re interested to check it out, everything is taking place near the Bayfront Park MetroMover stop. You can register for the grand opening on Friday here and check out the calendar of events here. We’ll see you there!
The City of Miami Beach is Pressuring FDOT to Beef Up the Bike Lanes on the Julia Tuttle & MacArthur Causeways
Photo of the Julia Tuttle Causeway taken by Sean McCaughan a few years ago.
The City of Miami Beach is urging the Florida Department of Transportation to beef up the bicycle lanes on the Julia Tuttle and MacArthur Causeways before construction work resumes on the only causeway reasonably safe to bicycle across now, the Venetian. At a commission meeting on the 13th of last month they urged FDOT to paint green bicycle lanes along the entire length of the MacArthur and put the Tuttle’s bike lanes behind protective barriers. The response so far hasn’t been very positive though.
According to City Transportation Director Jose Gonzalez, who recently met with FDOT, he basically got a lot of flack from the department about how little could be done in the short term even though FDOT does have a long term bike lane project planned for the Tuttle (and just the Tuttle). The response from commissioners was a unanimous vote to continue urging FDOT on this, as they attempted to avoid a repeat of the very limited bicycle connectivity situation that happened the last time work was underway on the Venetian.
County Considering Network of ‘Water Buses’ Around Biscayne Bay
Photo via Flickr/Phillip Pessar.
In their wacky-tobackie dysfunctional ways, South Florida’s politicians are getting serious about looking for answers to our worsening traffic issues in Miami. The latest ideas being floated (floated!) are aquatic, per yesterday’s county commission meeting, when commissioners got a preview of their probe into possible water transportation solutions. As Miami Today reports, it’s an idea that people have yacked about for years, but finally the county is getting serious, with various types of water taxis, and even ‘water buses’ being considered. They are pouring over old water transport studies for ideas, and looking for possible locations for docks and connectivity to other transit, as well as ideal sized vessels, and whether the solution would be a city or county-run service.
