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(Photo provided by David Jones of Miami-Dade County.)
The mayors of Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, Cutler Bay, Florida City and Homestead joined Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava on Friday, June 4, for a groundbreaking ceremony at the SW 296th Street Park and Ride lot for the future South Corridor Rapid Transit Project.
The project will provide 20 miles of exclusive transit right-of-way, parallel to S. Dixie Highway (US1), with signal preemption, offering an easy 60-minute ride from Homestead to Downtown Miami. The project will include 14 newly constructed iconic rapid transit stations, improvements to the two end-of-line terminals at Dadeland South and SW 344th Street, and the rehabilitation of the 16 existing stations along the corridor.
“Today is the result of years of planning, vision, and coordination with a shared goal in mind — to reshape transportation in Miami-Dade County,” said Mayor Levine Cava in an official release. “Breaking ground on the South Dade Rapid Transit Project — the first SMART plan corridor — is a major milestone and step forward in our work to better connect all corners of Miami-Dade. This project will provide important transportation relief in the short term, as we continue to push for expansion to rail — and critically, all the BRT stations along the corridor will be convertible to rail.”
Planners are hopeful that it will reduce traffic along the US 1 corridor. New state-of-the-art Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) stations with rail-like amenities and efficiencies for a fast, comfortable, and cost-effective ride are part of the plan. Additionally, the 14 BRT stations will include level boarding, off-board fare collection, real-time messaging for bus arrivals, closed circuit TV, free Wi-Fi and other amenities such as air-conditioned vestibules, emergency call boxes, bike racks, benches, and device charging stations.
The South Corridor Rapid Transit Project and BRT service is made possible by the financial support of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), and the People’s Transportation Plan (PTP) managed by the Citizens’ Independent Transportation Trust (CITT).
In late 2020, DTPW was awarded a $99.9 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration specifically for the South Corridor Rapid Transit Project. FDOT has committed an additional $100 million, with Miami-Dade County funding the remaining $100 million for the South Dade Rapid Transit Project.
The South Dade Bus Rapid Transit Project is being designed and built by Obrascón Huarte Lain (OHL), a Spanish multinational construction and civil engineering company.
