I-395 Baywalk Pedestrian & Bikeway Bridge

 

I-395 Baywalk Pedestrian & Bikeway Bridge.jpg

 

Overview

The most difficult barrier to finishing a complete Downtown Baywalk occurs at the I-395 MacArthur Causeway, forcing pedestrians and cyclists to circumnavigate the site along an unsafe section of Biscayne Blvd. The Miami DDA and the City of Miami’s Office of Capital Improvements (with lease agreements from FDOT) are advancing the design and construction of an over-the-water pedestrian bridge that will finally connect the Perez Art  Museum of Miami and Maurice A. Ferre Park  to the former Herald Plaza, currently owned by Resorts World/Genting. The over-the-water pedestrian bridge would be routed underneath the MacArthur Causeway and provide an iconic destination and connection North-South along the Baywalk and East-West to the existing civic institutions and the eventual Underdeck/Reverend Graham Greenway.

Master Plan Goals

  • 2.0 Leverage our Beautiful and Iconic Tropical Waterfront
  • 2.2 Complete Baywalk & Riverwalk
  • 2.4 Improve Inland Connections to Waterfront
  • 4.5 Connect and Promote Downtown Parks, Open Space, and Greenways

Status

  • On July 22, 2021, the City Commission accepted the City’s Manager’s recommendation to award a contract to EXP Engineering USA to design the pedestrian bridge.
  • In January 2022, the consultant team held stakeholder meetings, performed site analysis, and data collection.
  • On October 17, 2022, EXP Engineering & Inform Architecture Studio Finished their Feasibility Study for the Pedestrian bridge.
  • On July 8, 2024, the Miami DDA Urbanism Committee asked Miami DDA staff to engage with City of Miami OCI and Pedestrian Bridge Design team Consultants - EXP Engineering and Inform Architecture Design Studio - about redesigning Options #2 and #3, so that the renderings show the alignment to travel underneath the 2nd bay of support columns underneath the MacArthur Causeway, versus the longer path underneath the 3rd bay.
  • On March 6, 2025, at the Phillip & Patricia Frost Museum of Science, the Miami DDA hosted a launch event where the I-395 Baywalk Pedestrian & Bikeway Bridge was presented by Inform Architecture Studio's Founding Principal Michael Guthrie. Mr. Guthrie discussed project context, stakeholder input, design options, updated alternatives through the 2nd bay, project constraints, and next steps.  We acquired additional feedback via surveys on the bridge design alternatives.
  • Miami DDA staff is currently researching costs, funding sources, potential partnerships, and operations & management possibilities, before bringing the project back to the Miami DDA Board of Directors meeting, and eventually the City Commission.
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