Construction of a pedestrian bridge over the MacArthur Causeway in Miami Beach is expected to begin by summer. Above: The entrance to South Beach from the MacArthur Causeway.
MOCNER@MIAMIHERALD.COM
After a two-year delay, real estate developers are promising to finally follow through on a commitment they made to residents in exchange for building a massive project in South Beach as part of a public-private partnership.
Construction is expected to begin in the first half of 2024 on a pedestrian bridge at the foot of the MacArthur Causeway, the main entrance to South Beach, according to David Martinez, director of the City of Miami Beach’s Office of Capital Improvement Projects. . It will take a year to complete it.
After presenting the plan in 2018three development companies agreed in 2019 to build a park and pedestrian bridge in exchange for permission to build a 48-story condominium called Five Park and commercial space on city-owned land at 500 Alton Road.
The development companies – Coconut Grove-based Terra, Edgewater-based Crescent Heights and Buena Vista-based New Valley – built the Canopy Park, a three-acre, $8 million land and just wrapped on Five Park in November. Construction was scheduled to begin on bridge in 2022 and will end in 2023, but it has not yet started.
Named the Miami Beach Canopy Bridge, French artist Daniel Buren – well known for his striped design installations, such as the Colonnes de Buren/Les Deux Plateaux at the Palis Royal in Paris – signed on to design the span.
“Our plan was that bridge construction would begin once Five Park Tower was completed and substantially completed. Now that the Five Park structure is complete, we have begun foundation work on the north end of the bridge, with construction of the main bridge structure expected to begin this summer,” David Martin, CEO of Terra, said via email .
“When completed,” he said, “Canopy Bridge will be the gateway to Miami Beach, allowing residents and visitors to connect across much of South Beach on foot or by bike – from Lincoln Road in South Pointe Park.”
Terra did not confirm the total cost of building the bridge, but Miami Beach says the city contributed $9.6 million to the project.
Immediate next steps include filing bridge plan documents with the city for final approval and then with the Florida Department of Transportation, which will issue the final permit.
City officials and residents expected the project to be further along by now. “The only delays that would happen would be if the developer doesn’t continue this process, but there’s no reason for it to take this long,” Martinez said.
Resident Fred Margolis blames the city in part for the delay.
“I am disappointed that after a few years, construction has not even started,” he said. “My question is: why weren’t these permits requested well before? What was the delay and what did the city do to speed up the process?
Beyond an agreement between the city and the developer to complete the entire project by 2027, Martinez said the city has no other timetable or way to keep the developer on task. In an effort to ensure progress is made as soon as possible, Martinez said the city has scheduled bi-weekly meetings since last year to get updates on the pedestrian bridge.
For his part, Martinez said the city already has a plan in place for when construction is fully underway. Single lane closures are planned in each direction of the MacArthur Causeway to ensure driver safety. And when a crane is on site to install colored glass panels on the bridge, the highway will be closed in the evening for several days. Drivers will need to enter Miami Beach via the Venetian or Julia Tuttle Causeways.
Margolis, a commercial real estate developer, said the bridge is essential to the community and is needed as soon as possible.
He and his wife divide their time between Boston and their apartment at the Murano Grande in the South of Fifth neighborhood of South Beach. They see the difference a bridge could make when they take their two Shihpoos, Roxy and Lexi, for walks four times a day along the boardwalk behind their building and see pedestrians turn around when they reach the roadway by MacArthur. When they go to a tennis match at Flamingo Park or go to a restaurant, they often have to dodge traffic to cross Fifth Street and Alton Road.
“As residents, we can’t wait to see this open.” This intersection at Alton and Fifth is very difficult to navigate as a pedestrian or cyclist. It’s dangerous,” Margolis said. “Everyone is looking forward to it. We are disappointed that it has not yet been built.
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