Hard Rock Stadium could get Metrorail station first in Miami-Dade’s new transit plan

Hard Rock Stadium could have a train station connected by elevated track to the Metrorail system under an expedited transit plan revealed Tuesday that would postpone construction of neighborhood stops until after the Miami Gardens route is finished.

The new strategy by the administration of Mayor Daniella Levine Cava doesn’t reveal a solution for the biggest hurdle ahead: raising the billions of dollars needed to build and operate the first expansion of Metrorail since the Miami International Airport station opened in 2012.

But county leaders said they’re switching strategies to make the long-stalled “North Corridor” rail expansion more competitive for federal funds they think could allow Miami-Dade to start construction next year.

On Tuesday, Oliver Gilbert, the commissioner who represents the Miami Gardens area, introduced last-minute legislation canceling an ongoing invitation for private rail proposals on the North Corridor in favor of a quicker, county-run project. Commissioners approved the legislation unanimously.

“This is the boldest we’ve ever been,” said Gilbert, a former Miami Gardens mayor.

The current county plan calls for building eight stations between the existing Martin Luther King Metrorail Station at 62nd Street and Northwest 215th Street, just north of the planned Hard Rock station. That strategy, which included the Hard Rock station, plus stops at Miami Dade College and in Opa-locka was approved as part of the SMART Plan process in 2018.

A 2018 study found building the 13-mile Metrorail line from the existing Martin Luther King station to Miami Gardens would cost $1.8 billion. A North Corridor Metrorail extension up Northwest 27th Avenue was part of the transit plan pitched voters in 2002 when they approved a half-percent sales tax for transportation projects.

Under the new approach, Miami-Dade would build the elevated rail line just to Hard Rock, with seven other stations coming in a second phase.

“I want to make it clear: We’re going to be building the whole project,” said Eulois Cleckley, Miami-Dade’s director of Transportation and Public Works. “The question is when do you build out the stations?”

The new rail line may not be the same trains and technology as the existing Metrorail system. Miami-Dade said it is pursuing a “heavy rail” project, a category that includes Metrorail. The trains would run on elevated tracks.

The decision to cancel the North Corridor bidding process — which will involve unspecified rebates to proposers to cover their proposal costs to date — follows a decision by Levine Cava last week to scrap the county’s prior plan for a monorail to Miami Beach in favor of pursuing a Metromover extension instead.

This story was originally published November 15, 2022 at 6:58 PM.