Wynwood Lobbying For Permanent Tri-Rail Station To Be Built At 29th Street
Wynwood leaders are asking transportation planners to consider placing a permanent Midtown Tri-Rail station near their neighborhood.
Last week, the Florida Department of Transportation announced that they would fund half of the Midtown demonstration station project, with the other half to be funded by the city and county.
The station is planned to be built just north of 36th Street, under the I-195 overpass, representatives of South Florida Regional Transportation Authority told The Next Miami.
Wynwood’s Business Improvement District is now advocating for a permanent Wynwood-Midtown-Edgewater station to be built closer to 29th Street, an area which BID leaders say is capable of sustaining a station for the long term, regardless of what happens with the temporary station.
Yesterday, the BID released a study by urban planner Cesar Garcia-Pons showing that a Wynwood-Midtown-Edgewater Station station at 29th street would serve an area with up to triple the development capacity compared to a Wynwood-Design District station at 36th Street.
“From an urban planning perspective, it’s important that any new transit stations in Miami’s urban core not only be located near vibrant, mixed-use residential and commercial communities, but also within a neighborhood or area that has the greatest potential for residential and employment growth,” said Garcia-Pons. “The results of the study make a compelling case for siting a commuter transit station a bit further to the south.”
The Wynwood BID says they will now share the results of the study with City of Miami of elected officials, as well as members of the City administration for their consideration. Additionally, the BID will ensure that Miami-Dade County Commissioners, relevant members of the administration and members of the Miami-Dade Transportation Planning Organization receive copies of the garcia-pons+associates research document. Lastly, the study results will be shared with Grupo Mexico, owner of the FEC Railway, the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, and residents of the Wynwood-Midtown-Edgewater area.
“The Wynwood BID prides itself on implementing forward-thinking urban planning concepts in our growing district – and that includes doing our part to find solutions to Miami’s growing traffic challenges,” said BID Board Member David Polinsky. “We hope that our City of Miami and Miami-Dade County partners will take note of this new study and work with us to ensure that the booming Wynwood-Midtown-Edgewater area houses a permanent Tri-Rail station.”
Only makes too much sense to place a station more centrally located to service all the nearby areas but knowing the local politicians they’ll bungle this. The Design District and residential areas like Buena Vista and Little Haiti are nowhere near as dense and won’t get as dense as the area to the south. This is only getting built once so make it count now.
This proposed location makes more sense. Design District is beautiful but there’s no housing there, not everyone that shops in those high-end stores take public transit. The new location is in Wynwood (which is growing exponentially), and Midtown.
Although instead of Tri-Rail I would prefer a Metro Mover station there.
I’d rather see a streetcar with dedicated right-of-way, and connecting Miami Beach. It has better capacity and won’t spoil streetscapes like it did along streets in the historic core.
Um. It should be a dual Metro Mover/Tri-Rail station.
Only building one or the other, or building a station at 36th St instead of 29th-ish is poor planning.
Exactly, midtown and wynwood have more residents and more regular venues and stores compared to the current propose site north of 36th street.
Unfortunately, if we have to wait 15 minutes for a metrorail train and then another 45 minutes for a tri-rail train, it will take over an hour to get to Wynwood from Brickell. Hopefully, they have a local service that runs from this station to Miami Central that runs more frequently.
My point exactly. Just expand the Metromover all the way up to Wynwood and Midtown. I take the Metromover all the time and they come every 5 minutes during peak hours. Furthermore you do not need a huge station as you would for a Tri Rail and you could build them right where the all the stores and restaurants are. People want convenience, they do not want to wait for a train for 45 minutes that will leave them so far away from the action they have to walk a long distance in the heat to get there.
For local transport within the city it would make so much more sense to expand the metro mover north along Miami Avenue where it could connect Design, Midtown, Wynwood utilizing probably 5 stations with points south. This new section could have decent speed because it would be perfectly straight, it is really the tight curves that slow it down. Also, with upgrades to the overall system the whole operational tempo and frequencies could be improved. The mover is not a fantastic system but it is a traffic-independent, above-grade system that we DO have and we should try to invest in it and make it better. Heavy-rail will never be able to produce the ridership revenues to be even close to cost-effective, it will have to depend entirely on more northern ridership having employment destinations within walking distance of 36th street or vice versa. It also seems that with a station under I 195 a train the size of a current Tri-Rail would have to block 36th while it was at the station and we already know how bad those intersections are with traffic. If it is to be built at all, closer to 29th is much better because of present,… Read more »
For any expansion, Metromover needs proper trains rather than little airport trains. Also, it would have to have fares to pay for it.
Build the north bound platform north of the street and south bound south of it. Then crossing guards can go up while the train is in the station.
Yes and I think the metromover should run three cars on the North Miami Ave route.
It’s not like anyone going to buy a Louis Vuitton handbag or Cartier watch is going to be jumping on the Tri-Rail anyway… 29th Street makes much more sense.
A lot of you are missing the point of how development works.. A station closer to 36th would eventually give the green light for density expansion in Buena Vista and the surrounding areas. Yes, the current residents will push back against it (density expansion)..and they will prevail at first (just as they did in Wynwood, Brickell, Coconut Grove, etc.) This is how development works. You increase the transit availability and in time developers purchases the surrounding land, pay off the right politicians, and boom, you have a new Buena Vista neighborhood filled with mix-use mid-rise buildings that will run north to Little Haiti (Magic City Innovation District, Eastridge, and the Archbishop Curley site Triple Five is working on). Realistically, no single family home will exists in the City of Miami between 95 and US1 in the decades to come. Build the station at 36th, and YES, expand the metro mover allover… take it to civic center (hospitals) to the west via 20th or 17th St (Wynwood’s southern boarder) and north with stops all thru Wynwood, Midtown, and up to 36th St station. I also would argue, though more with a stretch, that the north of i-195 could potentially see the… Read more »
Well said. Knowing that the little Haiti area will soon be gentrified, it makes scense to put a station in the northern half of the city. Though, I don’t know if city and state officials use that logic lol
Should have been part of the construction at the old banana site , however, that ship has sailed and you need a long piece of land for a station.
Amazing!!! We will have connectivity to FLL Airport directly from Downtown. It will be so easy to go from MIA Airport – FLL Airport. Way to go.
http://www.facebook.com/josega.martin.realty
what connection is direct? Not tri rail
I like the idea but I’d prefer Metro Mover or MetroRail stations.
This will be a commuter rail station. Tri-Rail as of now only runs trains hourly to the airport. Even when Coastal Link service is running, 4 trains/hour is a long way off.
We should include potential transfers too, not just folks who start or stop in the local area. The 36th Street location connects with 9 MDT bus lines plus Miami trolleys.
Thank you. 36th Street allows for an intermodal connectivity. The hub and spoke system allow riders to travel in all directions from there. Includes Wynwood, Allapatha, Little Haiti, and South Beach. The Miami Trolleys would do a great job.
Tri-Rail runs peak morning/evening service of about 20min during week days, then hourly during off peak and weekends.
Thanks, I must have been looking at a weekend or out of date schedule.
A week ago commented on here and compared the two sites 36th Street and 29th Street and found the 29th Street location to be the best option. Since then the idea of sticking a station under a freeway overpass just north of 36th street was announced, which is even worse than the one on 36th street. Knowing that the powers that be don’t always make a good decision, I’m hoping the new station will be at 29th Street. NE 29th Street and NE 2nd Ave is a better choice. The property at 145 NE 29 ST is owned by PPF AMLI NE 2ND AVENUE LLC, who also own six other adjacent lots to the north along the east side of the FEC tracks. PPF AMLI NE 2ND AVENUE LLC, also owns 8 adjacent properties that front NE 2nd Ave. An owner with that much land is more likely to want a train station there to make the rest of their property more valuable. The 29th Street location is better suited and has plenty of land for Tri-Rail Station and additional development the way Brightline has done while NE 36st Street does not. There is also a brand-new development, Midtown 8… Read more »
This is a great factual analysis on residential or commercial density that justifies a Wynwood station on it’s own. Add to that tourism to Wynwood of another 50,000 plus on the weekends and it is a grand slam.
29th would be a better location next to midtown and wynwood. But like the current proposed site that is north of 36st and in the design distract.
Build an elevated platform and let developers build on top of it to recoup the extra costs. Sort of like a mini Miami central station in between Wynwood and Edgewater.
I really don’t understand why people likes Wynwood. Ok ,the art etc is nice but there nothing in Wynwood other than that. It’s hot as well cover with concrete Warehouses , one block away you can get kidnapped. I really don’t get it. I lived in LA for few years than moved to NYC for few years than moved in to Miami. Honestly the only area I love is Brickell , River,Key Biscayne,Coconut Grove and South of 5th.. I moved to Miami to be next to water have a beautiful city view and water from from my condo , do my morning walk/run by the water etc. Why the heck do I want to live or hang out in Wynwood or Midtown.There is NOTHING in Midtown/Edgewater. There is nothing in Wynwood other than an Instagram photo day or lunch at Zack the Baker. I think real bubble is Wynwood and Midtown. It will take 10+ years to develop these neighborhood, Use your brain and think “WHERE IS THE SAFEST NEIGHBORHOOD IN MIAMI?” It’s Brickell , you can walk in the street comfortably even 3-4am midnight with out feeling unsecure. I think Brickell have the highest potential in Miami. All the… Read more »
There are robberies in brickell 3am next to the BCC walkway that is under the metromover station and next to that 7/11 next to brickell metrorail station.
I agree, I never understood the appeal of Wynwood either. It’s OK I guess, but nothing amazing and certainly not yet the level of good urbanism as downtown Gables or downtown Grove. Ironically even thought Brickell is more urbanized it’s also not quite at the elite level of good urbanism as Gables or Grove, or certain places on the beach (like say that short 2 block section of Espanola way). But it’s starting to get there. Keep in mind it was just a sleepy financial district until about 15 years ago, where everyone left promptly at 5pm. So it’s catching up fast.
Wynwood still doesn’t quite have that “sense of place” (as the new urbanists call it) that the other aforementioned do.
In addition to this, Brickell has limited land left. Only a few spots remain where towers can go, so that will play into price growth but for now and the next couple years, Brickell will have some great deals due to excess inventory.
You people may wanna give this anonymous person thumbs down because he said – “I really don’t understand why people likes Wynwood. Ok ,the art etc is nice but there nothing in Wynwood other than that” – but he’s absolutely correct and spot on.
Sorry, are you making a case for a TriRail stn in Brickell? Because that was the original topic…location of a Tri Rail stn. I welcome an opinion and/or rant any day but pouring it in the right place helps.
I hope you’re also taking English classes between trips to the Merc dealership and Jimmy Choos in BCC. Good luck.
Gene,I can really see what kind of miserable poor person you’re.. Just because of your comment, I can truly see your personality and what I can tell you is , you will be poor ,miserable and unsuccessful all your life.. I started 3 companies with $2K investments that generates over $60M in sales with my English so I think my poor English is good enough for me to be successful but your beautiful English with reflects your bank account. So maybe you should become a English teacher ,maybe you can make few extra bucks buddy.
Yeah your off topic, but I agree with your rant. Wynwood is exactly what developer love, an over priced concrete jungle. Plus, what it is today, yes it has some charm, it won’t be that tomorrow. And midtown, that’s a joke. Midtown is Dadeland 2.0.
Brickell is great, but could use some schools and more green space.
Why, because you don’t have enough green space and schools where you live?