Brickell Street Proposed To Become One-Way Due To ‘Large Amounts Of Pedestrian Traffic’

Miami commissioners are set to vote on a resolution that could see a busy Brickell Street reconfigured.

The change is proposed for a 338 foot stretch of Southwest 9 Street, from Brickell Plaza to South Miami Avenue.

The buildings on that stretch include: the 58-story SLS Lux (completed in 2018), a multi-level Chabad (completed 2014), and the Mary Brickell Village complex (completed over multiple years).

The area has become one of the busiest in Miami for pedestrians, with thousands of residential units built in recent years, along with multiple hotels and office towers planned, completed, or under construction.

Brickell City Centre is a block away. The 55-story 830 Brickell office tower is nearing construction a few steps away.

According to a text of a proposed city resolution, the high number of tourists and “large amounts of pedestrian traffic in the area” creates significant life-safety risks.

The proposal would convert Southwest 9 Street to one-way traffic westbound, as it is on the next block.

The county has final say, and the request would be forwarded to county politicians, urging them to make the proposed change.

The city commission vote on the resolution is scheduled for March 23.

 

Photo below is from 2017:

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Anonymous
8 months ago

City of Miami is throwing a bone to pedestrian safety for once! Miracle! Come on Cava, ball’s in your court! But seriously, if they do this then they should just shrink that section to one lane and expand the sidewalk and bike lane.

Anonymous
8 months ago

Where can you complaint about these things online? In NYC we have the 311 website. What about here?

Bruno
8 months ago

Right here in the TNM comment section.

Floridian
8 months ago

Go back to NYC…

Anonymous
8 months ago

Florida educated response.

Floridian
8 months ago

Go back to NYC too…

Not Anonymous
8 months ago

go back to Pensacola…

Anonymous
8 months ago

We are from Florida, South Florida, which has the best education in the state and supports the rest of the State. We need more modern thinking SoFl representation in Tallahassee!

Anon
8 months ago

City commissioners– this has nothing to do with Cava

Anonymous
8 months ago

There are parts of Brickell funded only by Miami-Dade County property taxes. Isn’t she obliged to help?

Jordan
8 months ago

What??

Anonymous
8 months ago

As I understand, property taxes are collected by Miami-Dade County. There is no Miami city property tax, right? Doesn’t this mean the county holds the power of the purse?

Anonymous
8 months ago

“The County has final say.”

anon
8 months ago

Don’t think the mayor of Miami-Dade County is spending her time on 300 ft of street, but whatever makes y’all happy

Anonymous
8 months ago

How about urban planning the area with most tax revenue and major metropolis in the county? Is that not a priority? I understand there are people to delegate to like the city commissioners, but the buck stops at her.

Jordan
8 months ago

Don’t mix up City of Miami and Miami Dade County.
Some roads are State of Florida, some roads are Federal Highways.

It is would be helpful to learn the differences prior making definitive posts about who should do what, and where the bucks are stopping or going.

Anonymous
8 months ago

Why do we have such a mixed match system? Is there a map or rule of thumb for to know who controls which roads? Citizens can’t get involved if it’s so hard to understand.

Anonymous
8 months ago

I’m sure she’s thinking about the big picture and supports this. She is a smart mayor and knows that Brickell grid needs improvements and redesigns to meet the current and future demands, one street at a time so it does not disrupt the flow all at once.

Anonymous
8 months ago

Cava is a joke. Even more than Suarez the Bitcoin Boy.

Anonomatopoeia
8 months ago

Suarez is smart.

PB&J
8 months ago

While we’re at it, I beg, please upgrade the intersection for pedestrians, bicyclists, and micro mobility to have a more effective intersection system.

Anonymous
8 months ago

A welcome change for pedestrians on Brickell.

Anonymous
8 months ago

You all do realize the purpose of one way streets has always been to funnel more automobile traffic and faster. Making streets more difficult for cars to navigate tends to make them more pedestrian oriented.

Anonymous
8 months ago

No it makes drivers frustrated and make sudden movements and think there are no rules so they can hit people and drive off, like they keep doing.

Anonymous
8 months ago

Wait, this person may be right. This is a debate going on for awhile. A lot of cities are converting one way streets to two way. I think we can all agree that bike lanes, better cross walks, and pedestrian only thoroughfares are good though. How about focusing the resources there since it’s more likely to deliver a return on investment and make people happier?

Anonymous
8 months ago

This should be approved for pure consistency alone! 9th Street is one way between Miami Ave and 1st Ave. there should be a predictable continuous system otherwise people get lost and go the wrong way on streets and hit people. I bet drivers would adhere to a system if there was more predictability. Please pass this resolution quickly. It’s a no brainer!

Anonymous
8 months ago

Just wait until 830 brickell offices full up…the amount of pedestrian traffic will quadruple. Planning ahead has never been a strength of this local government unfortunately…

Melo is sigma and Chad
8 months ago

Yes please because the area around Mary Brickell village is packed constantly.

Anonymous
8 months ago

They need to add crosswalks there too

Name*
8 months ago

We need to do something similar on Biscayne Blvd. what happened to the Grern Biscayne plan?

Anonymous
8 months ago

Biscayne needs to first adjust its traffic lights. Pedestrians need to wait almost 10 minutes to cross and are expected to cross the whole boulevard in less than 13 seconds. What a joke!

Anonymous
8 months ago

The worst is when everyone has a red light, the cars in every direction and people walking. Who’s adjusting these traffic lights? Where can we put a compliant about it online?

Anonymous
8 months ago

Biscayne is unbelievably dangerous from 19th to 36th.

Anonymous
8 months ago

They should add speed bumps

Anonymous
8 months ago

Agree and add roundabouts at new intersections in brickell. They improve walkability and slow down the speed racers who do wheelies.

Anonymous
8 months ago

What major city do you see speed bumps on a downtown street? It’s not a subdivision in Miami Lakes.

Anonymous
8 months ago

Why don’t we have 311 or message board? Our leaders can’t be everywhere at once. This site has become a de facto 311.

Bruno
8 months ago

The lights were synced up 2 weeks ago.

Anonymous
8 months ago

Some of the streets don’t even have turn signals. It would cut 75% percent of the traffic with turn signals. People sit there in traffic waiting for a chance to turn which just makes more traffic. This is all over… it was designed for less traffic.

Anonymous
8 months ago

The worst is the yellow blinking crosswalks. Yellow in our traffic system means caution or slow down, so cars ignore them and hit people.

Anonymous
8 months ago

Nobody is going to stop when nobody is clearly coming.

Anonymous
8 months ago

Why would they flash if nobody was coming? The pedestrians all talk at these crosswalks about how you can’t rely on people to stop. It’s like a collective experience.

Anonymous
8 months ago

“Drivers know a red light means stop, so legislation [in Tampa] that would require replacing flashing yellow lights with red lights at mid-block crosswalks is a smart safety measure that would save lives.”

Honestly, I had no idea legislation was proposed for this same thing in Tampa. We could model our bill on their bill and at least consider it. It’s accessible below.

https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2020/01/17/red-lights-instead-of-flashing-yellows-make-sense-for-crosswalks-editorial/?outputType=amp

Professional Engineer
8 months ago

Long overdue! Most people driving through here are just revving their rented Lambos anyways…

Anonymous
8 months ago

You’re a “professional engineer” but probably drive a beat-up Kia.

N, N
8 months ago

So because he theoretically drives a Kia, pedestrians should find somewhere else to walk, or get run over. The mf leaps in logic here…

Anon
8 months ago

Miami is the perfect example why we should NEVER have direct democracy

Anonymous
8 months ago

Can we make just… fully pedestrian?

Anonymous
8 months ago

This is Brickell. Everyone here needs their cars. What are they going to do, walk to south beach?

Anonymous
8 months ago

People rarely go to SoBe from Brickell? and if they do they Uber because they probably are going to drink there.

Paul Pine
8 months ago

This is really not true . People go to Sobe to do all kinds if things , not only drink.

Anonymous
8 months ago

Soon we’ll have the Metromover going to South Beach

NYC Transplant
8 months ago

Not soon enough. The population growth over the next few years is going to make traffic much worse than it already is. Honestly, most of the streets are just not wide enough, and I can’t see how that will be changed, apart from the “Signature Bridge” addition.

Anonymous
8 months ago

The streets are too wide. Widening them won’t take people off the roads, it’ll make it hard to bike and walk.

anonlatino
8 months ago

if you want wider streets than move to tampa or somewhere else.

Anonymous
8 months ago

When pi-…cars fly.

Anonymous
8 months ago

I think Brickell and the City of Miami see how successful it can be when you have pedestrian corridors, like in the Design District and Lincoln Road.

Anonymous
8 months ago

Brickell is going to have a lot of these issues in the coming years…..aggressive development with zero thought to infrastructure – yikes.

MM305
8 months ago

Better than regression and crumbling infrastructure like the North East and Midwest.

Chaotic growth has historically been a boon for cities, even when the bubble bursts they still have the buildings and the interior space that didn’t exist before hand.

Anonymous
8 months ago

It is possible to plan beforehand…. It doesn’t have to be one or the other.

Anonymous
8 months ago

too much planning and oversight is exactly what has constricted California into shrinking in population for the first time ever… and they still have a supply and affordability problem. Worry about pedestrians after the housing shortage, not before. Its a sly way of letting the problem get worse until the only solution left is more oversight.

Anon
8 months ago

Exactly, the last thing we want is NYC boom style development on crumbling development with poor infrastructure. Many people left because of that. Let’s be mindful of urban planning.

Anonymous
8 months ago

NYC only boomed circa 1890-1920. After that its been basically flat. BTW the city we know as NYC was built during that same “boom” period.

Sven
8 months ago

“Zero thought” ???
Maybe it seems that way from what you read and who you associate with.

It is clear to anyone paying attention, that there is significantly more than zero.

Anonymous
8 months ago

We see lots of thoughtful planning. That’s why it’s growing and people
love Miami. We just also see lobbying against improvements (see this message board). We just don’t want the City to be misguided.

Anonymous
8 months ago

I remember years ago when Flagler St downtown was changed from one way to two way to promote pedestrian traffic. Now the opposite helps?

Anonymous
8 months ago

What helps is getting rid of cars

Anonymous
8 months ago

Um, and two way being double the traffic in one direction that doesn’t have to worry about traffic going the opposite direction.

Anonymous
8 months ago

Yes! One way streets are smart. Glad to see solutions being proposed in Miami for pedestrian safety and experiences.

Bruno
8 months ago

Right….because there isn’t a one way street anywhere near S. Miami Ave & SE 9th St.

Unless you count the S. Miami Ave itself, or SE 8th St one block away, SE 7th St two blocks away, or SW 1st Ave one block away

Anonymous
8 months ago

Exactly, allowing current inconsistent grid to stay BLOCKS automated memory recall of drivers. If they could predict which way the road goes in advance they won’t be so confused and cause traffic. Let’s pass this Miami.

Downtown Vagabond
8 months ago

How is a one way street, of which purpose is to speed up traffic, better for pedestrians?

Sven
8 months ago

It’s immaterial.

Anon
8 months ago

One ways do nothing to promote pedestrian safety. In fact, they make streets less safe for pedestrians since they prioritize auto traffic and complicate intersections.

Road Diets, protected lanes for micromobility, Woonerfs and Leading Pedestrian Intervals are what we need, but our elected officials aren’t creative enough for that.

Anonymous
8 months ago

I disagre. At a one way you just need to look one way. It’s so hard to walk across two way streets when you have to worry about cars from both directions stopping. NYC has all one way streets and it’s easier to walk – look at one way Miami Ave. the cars give pedestrians right of way

MM305
8 months ago

It has one way streets, some two way streets. The smaller East West streets are one way in NYC, but the North South streets are typically two way. We haven’t quite reached that level of density yet to warrant that kind of bottlenecking on Brickell Ave. But that day will arrive in about 20-30 years, and at that time it will be a good idea so long as there is a street that runs parallel and in the opposite direction.

Anonymous
8 months ago

I think it’s more like 5 years away.

NYC Transplant
8 months ago

Only the boulevards like Park Avenue and Broadway are 2-way in Manhattan. The numbered avenues, plus Columbus, Central Park West, etc. are mostly one way.

Anonymous
8 months ago

NYC turned 14th into a pedestrian only thoroughfare. We need a place for more of those in Brickell. Start planning now or yesterday, so we don’t have garage entrances to think about…

Anonymous
8 months ago

LOL, 14th street wasn’t a pedestrian road when it was paved and when they built out that neighborhood in NYC. That happened a century later. All of you folks are talking about ‘the cart before the horse’ ideas.

Anonymous
8 months ago

YES BUT 14 street, NYC doesn’t have giant garage pedestals on every block to think about. Is that something in the masterplan? Roads in Brickell without garage entrances and driveways!?

Bruno
8 months ago

It does take an extraordinarily talented human to cross a street.

I’ve seen these people in Brickell cross the street AND chew gum at the same time!
It is phenomenal! A site to behold.

Sven
8 months ago

Yeah, but only Brickell people can do that. On Biscayne Blvd, people breathe through their mouths and need speedbumps in the road.

Anonymous
8 months ago

The mother walking her children in a stroller, as a speed racer revs its engines and whips around a corner, is comforted by your suggestion to just chew gum. On a positive note, the city did pave a new crosswalk to the underline which is a good step… less than half the cars stop though. How about a stop sign? 🛑

Anonymous
8 months ago

The streets used to be two-way until the 1940s and Robert Moses. Do your research.

NYC Transplant
8 months ago

One ways absolutely help, because pedestrians only need to look one way for traffic. This is a big help in Manhattan on the avenues and most cross streets. However, the bike lanes there now have delivery guys on e-bikes going in both directions. This has become a real hazard to pedestrians, especially after dark.

Anonymous
8 months ago

I was nearly run over last week in NYC by one of these delivery idiots.

Anonymous
8 months ago

The posters on here aren’t smart enough to know that.

Woonerf Brickell
8 months ago

Love Woonerfs and micro mobility! This is needed in Brickell. Isn’t a woonerf just a street where people go slow, don’t we achieve that with roundabouts and speed bumps?

Not Anonymous
8 months ago

Make it fully pedestrian!

Bruno
8 months ago

How does your proposal squre with the existing 530 residences on SE 9th St?

BB1
8 months ago

One way streets are a freeway to get out of the city. Two way streets promote movement within the city. A one way street in no way promotes pedestrian safety.

Anonymous
8 months ago

Stop actually stating facts. Let people cheer on one-way streets as if they will enhance pedestrian safety, or Metromover extensions as if they will take cars off the road.

Anonymous
8 months ago

There is no doubt, this is a website message board made for people who don’t care about facts, demographics, physics, materials, or commerce. Just make it more walkable for the sake of walkability.

Anonymous
8 months ago

There are pros and cons to both ways. It’s not as simple as I thought. Everything we have said here is on the Federal DOT website below. Maybe it’s confusing by design…

https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/saferjourney1/library/countermeasures/13.htm

Anonymous
8 months ago

A good step toward car-free Brickell

Anonymous
8 months ago

Is Manhattan car free 🤡

Grayson
8 months ago

It 100% should be

Anonymous
8 months ago

Many parts of Manhattan are car free

Anonymous
8 months ago

It is in some areas, like Meetpacking. Plus most cars are cabs in Manhattan as everyone takes the subway. So if we extend and improve the Metromover, we’ll be fine.

NYC Transplant
8 months ago

Part of the reason people take the subway is that the traffic is so terrible during most times of the day. Brickell/Downtown/Miami Beach will get there quickly without the off-load capability. These Metromover projects need to be accelerated to ease what will be very painful driving conditions over the next five years as many of the big new projects complete.

Anonymous
8 months ago

We have Metrorail for that.

Grayson
8 months ago

Should be fully pedestrianized, we can move many more people without giant metal boxes causing traffic all day.

And?
8 months ago

A tunnel would solve the traffic problem.

Richard
8 months ago

Do it like in Coral gables just close off the roads to the ritzy spoiled crybaby residents, and divert traffic another way.

Anonymous
8 months ago

Good idea!

Anon
8 months ago

Wider sidewalks, extended curbs, and raised crosswalks!

Brian Carter
8 months ago

I would suggest to be pedestrian friendly, those two north/south bound segments of S. Miami Ave. between SW 11 to SW 10th & SW 10th to SW 9th Streets should be closed to traffice (except for the E/W streets) and have those two blocks of S. Miami Ave be only for pedestrians.

Ex-Londoner resident in 33132
8 months ago

Rather than posts from an endless list of “Anons, ” please create a handle for yourself, as I did here 4 years ago.