Construction can start on last leg of 7-mile beachwalk that spans Miami Beach coast
Miami Beach is one step closer to having an uninterrupted beachwalk along its seven-mile coast, which will give pedestrians and bicyclists a single, paved pathway that will run from South Beach through North Beach.
The City Commission voted Wednesday to approve the design of the final segment of the beachwalk, which will extend north from 79th Street to 87th Terrace near Surfside. The new $4.5 million pathway, which is expected to be finished in spring 2022, will be located on the eastern end of North Beach Oceanside Park. The construction contract will be awarded in February, and work will begin in late spring to early summer.
The North Beach site is not the only missing link on the current beachwalk. The other ongoing connection, between 24th and 45th streets, will replace the Mid Beach wooden boardwalk that the city demolished. Construction of the $13 million project is expected to be finished this summer.
“Our beachwalk is one of the great amenities of our community,” Mayor Dan Gelber said in a statement. “Having an uninterrupted path down the entirety of our ocean front will be spectacular.”
The North Beach extension will run west of the state-protected sand dunes on the beach and through the southern end of the park.
Today, a paved roundabout marks the northernmost reach of the beachwalk at 79th Street. The only path through the wooded area is a narrow sand trail that is difficult to traverse when not on foot.
“It’s very stressful if you bike through,” said Manning Salazar, a North Beach resident and activist. “It’s going to make it more accessible.”
Some trees coming out, more trees going in
A total of 265 trees — 183 of them palm trees — will be removed from the area as part of the project, but the city said it will add 433 new canopy trees in their place. The project design has received permitting from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The tree-lined sand mounds at the southeast end of the park, which some visitors use as an elevated walking trail, will be dug up and used throughout the beachwalk, a city spokeswoman said.
The mounds are made from stockpiled sand the city has stored for projects, and it will be “used throughout the beachwalk project to create habitat, vegetated planting berms in support of the resiliency goals of the project,” the spokeswoman said.
The Australian pine trees that have grown in the area will be removed, as they are considered invasive under city and Miami-Dade code, she said.
As he gently swung from his hammock Tuesday afternoon atop one of the sand hills, 62-year-old Daniel Goldman said it would be unfortunate for the city to destroy his favorite spot on the beach. He said the hills were unique on Miami Beach and offer views of the beach that he can’t even get from his 71st Street condo.
“It would be a shame to lose this hill,” he said. “There is room for the boardwalk to go around this.”
Greg and Aasta Watson, tourists from Atlanta, said they visit Miami Beach almost every year and enjoy walking along the beach. They said they were excited to hear that the beachwalk would be extended.
“We are walkers,” Aasta Watson said. “We love to walk. So if it can be expanded, that would be awesome.”
Beachwalk extension ‘years in the making’
The North Beach extension has been in the works since 2014, when the city received $10.5 million from the developer of a nearby condo tower as part of a development agreement that involved the city’s vacating of 87th Terrace to the developer. The condo tower, Eighty Seven Park at 8701 Collins Ave., was developed by the firm Terra Group.
Terra Group’s payment will help fund the beachwalk project and a yet-to-be-approved redesign of the North Beach Oceanside Park. Both projects received approval from the city’s Design Review Board in December, but the board’s decision was invalidated due to noticing issues involving an Eighty Seven Park resident who is opposed to the current proposal for the park’s redesign.
Commissioner David Richardson said the beachwalk has been a long time coming.
“The entire beachwalk project has been years in the making, and when completed will allow our residents to walk and bike the entire length of our city without mixing with cars on public streets,” he said in a statement. “I’m especially excited about the opportunity for the beachwalk to meander through the park in this new stretch, which will encourage more activation in the area.”
Following the recommendation of interim City Manager Raul Aguila, the City Commission voted Wednesday to separate the projects, waiving the required board approval for the beachwalk in order to move the project along and ensure it would remain eligible to receive $1 million in funding from the Florida Department of Transportation. The city is footing $2 million of the beachwalk bill through voter-approved general obligation bonds.
The park redesign will go before the Design Review Board on Tuesday.
“The North Beach Oceanside beachwalk design is similar to recently completed beachwalk projects which have been vetted at multiple public meetings, and being that this is the final portion of the City’s beachwalk system, the Interim City Manager has determined that a waiver of the DRB advisory review requirement is in the best interest of the City in order to ensure that it is completed in an expedient manner,” a city memo reads. “Further delays in the DRB process could impact the start date for the project, and more importantly the FDOT grant funding.”
This story was originally published January 27, 2021 at 6:19 PM.
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