A look at what could be on Alton Road

Yes, the $32 million, 28-month reconstruction of Alton Road has begun.

And yes, getting the Florida Department of Transportation to change direction on a plan bid and begun may be impossible.

A quick look at the Coalition plan.

But….a group called the Alton Road Reconstruction Coalition has assembled a thoughtful ploposal for rebuilding Alton Road to accommodate pedestrians, bikers and commuters with a concept that promotes good air and green space.

The folks behind the plan, led by a group of neighborhood associations, advocate for wider sidewalks, a hike and bike trail on the west side of Alton, a lower Alton Road speed limit and narrower lanes to slow traffic, more shade trees and a center median.

The coalition  Facebook page lists a series of public meetings to make the case, including a May 22 Miami Beach Land Use meeting where a lower speed limit (30mph  instead of 35) will be pitched. There’s also a coalition meeting Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Seymour, 945 Pennsylvania.

The coalition website outlines the plan in detail — what looks right in the FDOT plan and what doesn’t.

So yes, construction has begun. Can the course of action be changed?

Alton Road construction to add northbound detour at 17th Street

The two-year-plus Alton Road reconstruction project, which began April 1 between 17th Street and Michigan Avenue, gets a little more inconvenient next week.

Alton roadwork during spring 1013.

Northbound traffic on Alton Road will be detoured at 17 Street east to Meridian Avenue, north to Dade Boulevard and then north on Michigan Avenue before continuing north on Alton.

Southbound traffic on Alton between Michigan and Dade Boulevard will remain open, although one southbound lane may be closed daily, and left turns may be restricted.

The northbound detour is expected to last through September 2013.

According to the Florida Department of Transportation, which is running the project, the detour will enable the contractor to begin excavating the roadway to prepare for the new water main installation.

FDOT closes lanes at 17th and Alton

The Florida Department of Transportation has closed all but one lane east and west on 17th Street at Alton Road while Teco Gas crews repair a line.The work is epxected to continue throughout the day Tuesday.

(And thanks to the West Avenue Corridor Neighborhood Association for the heads up).

 

Alton Road construction begins Monday at Belle Isle’s doorstep

FDOT map shows construction schedule.

The long-awaited Alton Road construction project — a $32 million, 28-month effort to reconstruct the key west Miami Beach roadway from Fifth Street to Michigan Avenue — kicks off on Monday.

And the first area where roadwork will happen is the northern section of the project, from Dade Boulevard north to Michigan, according to the construction schedule.

Next week, the Florida Department of Transportation will set up equipment and material and begin removing palms, landscaping and curbing. They may close one northbound or southbound lane.

By the week of April 8,work crews will begin excavating the roadway, installing the new water main and setting up temporary street lighting. One southbound lane may be closed and the southbound left turn lane on Alton Road at Dade Boulevard will be converted to a through travel lane. By the end of April, the excavation work will extend south to 17th Street

Meanwhile, the first work on the south part of the project will involve checking for underground lines on Fifth, 10th and 14th streets in preparation for drainage work. Lanes may be closed between Alton and West Avenue and West and Bay Road.

Ah, the fun begins.

 

Miami Beach scrambles to stay above high water — on Collins Canal and elsewhere

Collins Canal seawall work at Bay Road (photo by Josh Fisher)

If you live on Belle Isle, in Sunset Harbour or the West Avenue corridor, no one has to tell you about sea rise and flooding — you’ve experienced it first-hand on dry days during high tide.

City engineers are predicting another bout of high water during April, at the same time several projects large and small move ahead to battle the salt water.

Bay Road and Collins Canal in November, 2012 (Josh Fisher).

Along the Collins Canal, work continues on the new seawall and adjacent bike and pedestrian path. Thanks to Belle Isle’s Josh Fisher for these photos of the sea wall work where Bay Road dead-ends on the south side of the canal, from last week and a comparative shot during a high-water period in November 2012.

Construction continues on the pumping stations in Sunset Harbour in an attempt to bring relief in particular to the mess at Purdy and Venetian Way across from Maurice Gibb Park and the corner of Purdy and 20th Street at the Pubbelly curve.

Location of drainage construction corridors.

And April is when construction is supposed to begin on the much talked avout Alton Road reconstruction project, which includes new pumping stations at Fifth, 10th and 14th streets.

Proposed 17th Street hotel, 600 Alton Road project on Miami Beach Planning Board agenda today

Two proposed developments closely followed by Venetian Causeway, Sunset Harbour and West Avenue residents appear on today’s Planning Board agenda, but it looks like only one — the proposed apartment complex called 600 Alton Road — will be examined.

The developers of a proposed 116-room hotel at 1231 17th St. — planned as a Marriott Residence Inn with a 66-space mechanical parking garage — have asked to defer their project until the board’s April 3 meeting. It’s the second time they have asked the Planning Board to delay considering the project.

As for 600 Alton Road, the city planning staff is recommending approval of the 440-unit apartment and retail complex — with dozens of conditions.

In its 18-page planning staff report on the project — which covers the area between Alton Road and West Avenue and Fifth and Seventh streets — the city recommends several measures to reduce the impact on residential West Avenue.

Among them: allowing no outdoor dining and no bars or restaurants open after midnight.

The proposal from Crescent Heights development (South Beach Heights LLC in the formal application) involves renovation — not demolition — of the old (and hurricane damaged) South Shore Hospital structure as part of the project.

The vital statistics: 60,000 square feet of retail and restaurant uses on the ground floor, 444 apartments, 1,073 parking spaces below ground. A new seven-story building will be constructed on the 500 block of Alton Road, and a five-story building on the 600 block. The South Shore building is 10 stories.

Today’s regular Planning Board meeting starts at 2 p.m. at City Hall, 1700 Convention Center Dr. The project is not the first item on the agenda.

It’s important to note that if the Planning Board approves the project, it next must undergo scrutiny by the city’s Design Review Board.

Here comes the moon — and tidal flooding in Sunset Harbour, Alton Road

Seawater swamps Purdy across from Maurice Gibb Memorial Park, October 2010

The city of Miami Beach warns that seasonal high tides are expected starting Monday, and with them flooding is likely in Sunset Harbour, along Alton Road and West Avenue and on Palm Island.

The tides aren’t expected to be as bad as in October 2010, when flooding was severe, but salt water problems are likely, interim City Manager Kathie Brooks said in a memo to the mayor and city commissioners.

Areas particularly vulnerable, the city says: Purdy Avenue between Dade Boulevard and 20th Street; Alton Road and West Avenue at Fifth, Sixth, 10th and 14th streets, and the west side of Palm Island.

“It is likely that the city will experience some short-term flooding in its low lying areas,” Brooks wrote. “At this time, staff does not anticipate any driving lanes to be closed unless there is significant rainfall during the peak time frames.”

If you lived on Belle Isle during the persistent flooding before the drainage project was completed, you know its important to avoid submerging your car in the salt water. Many residents later had serious issues with rust damaging their brake lines and other parts.

Next on the Miami Beach roadwork agenda: Alton Road

We hoped the frustrating Venetian Causeway-Dade Boulevard road construction circus to be done by the end of July, but summer rains seem to have slowed progress even more.

With work likely to push through August, here’s something new to anticipate: construction on Alton Road.

The City Commission on Wednesday is expected to authorize work by the Florida Department of Transportation on Alton Road from Michigan Avenue (just south of Miami Beach Golf Club) all the way to Fifth Street.

The work will start next April (by then, pleas let the causeway and Collins Canal construction be complete) and will take at least a year. It will include roadway, sidewalk, curb and gutter replacement, along with new landscaping and lighting.

There is a silver lining in all of this. The work is supposed to bring drainage improvements to Alton, which is notorious for flooding. There will be new stormwater pumping stations built at Fifth, 10th and 14th streets.

Miami Beach Commission approves West Avenue bridge

Miami Beach City Commissioners on Wednesday approved the concept of building a West Avenue bridge over the Collins Canal to provide a direct route from South Beach to Sunset Harbour.

In a 6-1 vote, commissioners decided to exercise an option for property held by the Miami Beach Housing Authority at West Avenue between 17th Street and the Collins Canal. That land provides the path for the bridge crossing.

Commissioners chose this configuration for the bridge.

Their vote backed a recommendation from Florida Department of Transportation consultants for a bridge that includes one northbound lane and two southbound lanes, one for cars turning left on to 17th Street from Sunset Harbour. The recommendation included bike lanes and a separate sidewalk in each direction.

The vote  also called for the commission’s Neighborhoods committee to explore the impact of a bridge that included a northbound right turn lane to 17th Street, and traffic calming measures for West Avenue south of Lincoln Road.

Commissioner Jorge Exposito said he supported the bridge but didn’t want to be locked in to the specific configuration supported by planners, and wanted them to explore adding a right turn lane at 17th Street.

Commissioner Jerry Libben voted no. (Note, an earlier version of this post incorrectly said Expositio had voted no).

Planners have said it will be two years before work will start on the bridge, but the commission had to decide on whether to acquire the right-of-way from the Housing Authority by May 2. If they did not act, the Housing Authority had several bidders interested in buying the land for development.

During nearly two hours of discussion, commissioners heard from several West Avenue residents who worried the bridge would attract more traffic and congestion to their neighborhood, as commuters seek to avoid Alton Road.

Supporters of the bridge said the traffic will come with or without the bridge. And residents of Sunset Harbour said with the restaurant and retail boom in their area — and the construction of the new city parking garage — the bridge is a necessity.

“Sunset Harbour is now a destination,” said Frank Kruszewski, a leader in the Sunset Harbour condominium association. “You have to do this when you have the opportunity.”

Half-marathon Sunday promises some barricades and delays on South Beach

The Miami Beach Half-Marathon happens Sunday morning, crossing the MacArthur and Julia Tuttle causeways and promising some traffic tie-ups between the two causeways along Alton Road.

The race starts at 6:15 a.m. Runners should be clear by 10 a.m.

The run starts at on Ocean Drive at 11 Street. The course goes south on Ocean, west on 5^thStreet across the MacArthur (single outer lane only), back on the Tuttle  (single outer lane only), south on Alton Road (single inner lane only), east on Dade Boulevard, north on Meridian Avenue, east on 29 Street, south on Prairie Avenue east on Dade Boulevard, south on Washington Avenue, east on 14 Street, south on the serpentine sidewalk where it ends at 11 Street.

The northbound Alton ramp from I-195 will be closed. Drivers accessing the hospital should take the first left after the bridge from 41 street.

If you are running, don’t go out too fast, drinking plenty of water, and be safe.

If you are driving, be patient.