Recently a reader sent the authors of Transit Miami a note of frustration, an excerpt of which is below.
I recently moved to NE 25th St. and Biscayne Boulevard. I am happy with the neighborhood as I think it is exciting what is going on throughout the whole area.I am happy that the city is trying to bring people into the city, but would it not be common sense to at least add crosswalks to your main boulevard? You would think this would be an automatic thing.Yet I find it utterly embarrassing and disappointing that Biscayne Boulevard (arguably the main artery of Miami’s inner core) hardly has crosswalks or even signals to cross the street. I risk my life every day just to cross the street with cars whizzing by from both sides and nowhere safe to walk. Even for Miami this to me is surprising and Miami as far as urbanity goes is a pretty backwards place as we all know.- Transit Miami reader, Jorge de Cardenas
We couldn’t agree more. The reconstruction of Biscayne Boulevard was a total lost opportunity on so many fronts. Despite all the urbanization along its lower stretches, it remains dominated by the automobile. This is the expected outcome when transportation decisions are made independent from land use decisions. Not until these two silos are knitted back together with some holistic thinking will Miami arrive on the scene as a truly urban, and urbane place.
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16 Responses to Heard On the Street: Biscayne Boulevard Is Embarrassing
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Jorge is my neighbor. I live on 26th and Biscayne. He’s totally right.
I live at 76th and Biscayne and it’s a funny scene when the MiMo district is doing things like this past Saturday’s Taste of MiMo. Cars will hit the breaks in bewilderment that something is happening on the sidewalks and it isn’t just an area to zip through like Mario Andretti!
Great point that events like that help slow traffic a bit, and maybe allow motorists to better understand the positive transformation this important corridor has made.
There was a great pic of Biscayne Blvd posted a while back with what looked like a traffic circle and a streetcar running through the middle of it. While I think the traffic at the lower half of Biscayne around the arena might be too much to warrent a traffic circle, I think in some of the upper areas (performing arts center north) a traffic circle would be great to calm traffic a bit.
Can you believe there is on street parking on parts of biscayne?
Steve is right, it is embarrassing. I would also like to add pathetic and negligent.
Why didn’t they extend the bike lane from the venetian to biscayne blvd along NE 15th St.!?
Hi James, as I understand it the City of Miami did not want the bicycle lane extension at the time it was being striped on the Venetian. Clearly this is an important connection, and there is plenty of for the first block and half, past the Herald. Please know the City is working on striping lanes from 14th all the way over the to the Health District, which would provide a crucial east-west connection.
Brickell Ave. is even less bike-friendly. At least on Biscayne you have a few feet.
Good news for Jorge and everyone else who’s living and working around Midtown… the Florida Department of Transportation will start work this fall on eight Biscayne Boulevard intersections in that neighborhood: NE 33rd Street, NE 29th Street, NE 26th Street, NE 22nd Street, NE 21st Street, NE 19th Street, NE 17th Terrace and NE 17th Street. Construction is scheduled to begin in September and it should all be finished within two years. It will take that long because it’s more involved than just painting stripes on the road… FDOT is totally reconstructing the roadway with new signals, new signage and markings, new crosswalks, new sidewalks and new lighting. It should go a long way toward making the area friendlier for current residents and businesses, not to mention more attractive to new ones. This isn’t technically a Miami-Dade County project, but we work closely with our partners at FDOT.
Vicki Mallette
Communications Director
Miami-Dade County
Vicki, that is great news. Thank you!
GREAT NEWS, Vicki!
Thanks for taking the time to respond and update the community. If you would like, you could send me any project documents or more information so that we could make a more robust post out of the improvements.
urbanplanner45@hotmail.com
I live on 29 street, and is the worse street in e holt entire Byscayne… Super danger!!!!!
Actually Im looking for Apt.
After reading the article, I just feel that I really need more info. Could you share some more resources ?
I have lived on 25th for almost 2 years now,and i must be honest,i have seen a lot happen down there that im not proud of repeating.Right from prostitutes soliciing business to overdossed addicts,bums dirthing the place and now the road ..
There are cops there on a daily basis ,but not doing their job, just eating at mario the pizza place of the latin cafe..is this miami Reallyy
“The Florida Department of Transportation will start work this fall on eight Biscayne Boulevard intersections in that neighborhood: NE 33rd Street, NE 29th Street, NE 26th Street, NE 22nd Street, NE 21st Street, NE 19th Street, NE 17th Terrace and NE 17th Street.”
So, from 22nd Street towards the north, there will be crosswalks every four blocks?! This is supposed to be good news?
I live on 24th and Biscayne, in the middle of Edgewater. With FDOT, it’s always like pulling teeth. They say they care about safety, but I don’t believe it for a second. They just want to move cars quickly and have no consideration for pedestrians. Try crossing the street sometime at 24th or 25th streets. Even walking down Biscayne Boulevard northward or southward (without actually crossing the Boulevard) is dangerous with no marked crosswalks– drivers turning onto the sidestreets often seemingly have no indication that someone is crossing the street until they are almost on top of him or her.
There should be crosswalks at every intersection on Biscayne Boulevard. Seriously. There are literally thousands of new residents in this neighborhood and new businesses opening up every day.
Again: a crosswalk every four blocks. That’s supposed to be good?