C7M - Extend 41st St Traffic Pilot

Resolutions - C7 M

COMMISSION MEMORANDUM

RECOMMENDATION

The City Administration (”Administration”) recommends that the Mayor and City Commission (”City Commission”) adopt the Resolution.

BACKGROUND/HISTORY

State Road (“SR”) 112/41 Street is classified as a principal arterial under the jurisdiction of the Florida Department of Transportation (“FDOT”). The corridor is located in Middle Beach and provides direct access to/from I-195/Julia Tuttle Causeway, a limited access federal interstate facility, and SR A1A/Collins Avenue/Indian Creek Drive (also under FDOT’s jurisdiction). Furthermore, pursuant to Sections 2-95 and 2-96.1 of the Miami-Dade County Code, all traffic control and traffic engineering services in Miami-Dade County are under the exclusive jurisdiction of Miami-Dade County. Therefore, any modifications to the existing traffic flow require review and approval from the Miami-Dade County Department of Transportation and Public Works (“DTPW”).

The 41 Street corridor regularly experiences heavy traffic congestion during weekday afternoon peak hours and major special events in the City. Several factors contribute to daily recurring traffic congestion along the corridor, including increased vehicle volumes due to drivers avoiding major on-going construction and choke points on I-395/MacArthur Causeway, closely spaced traffic signals, extensive school zones, high number of pedestrian crossings, and heavy side street traffic from the connecting north-south avenues which results in vehicles frequently blocking the intersections and creating gridlock in all directions. Based on the FDOT 2022 and 2024 Level of Service (“LOS”) maps, the 41 Street corridor is and has been operating at LOS F (failing) based on the annual average daily traffic and capacity of the roadway.

The Administration is exploring various strategies to manage the increased vehicular demand on 41 Street and on the north-south avenues connecting to 41 Street. Currently, the Transportation and Mobility Department is conducting a traffic study to evaluate the feasibility of creating dedicated turn lanes on the north-south avenues approaching the 41 Street intersection to more effectively facilitate turns onto 41 Street during peak periods as well as the flow of vehicles wishing to cross 41 Street and continue traveling north/south. The draft traffic study was received on August 1, 2025 and has been shared with FDOT and DTPW for review and approval.

At the March 13, 2024 City Commission Meeting, at the request of Commissioner David Suarez, the City Commission referred item C4 V to the Public Safety and Neighborhood Quality of Life

Committee (”PSNQLC” or ”Committee”) to discuss a potential 41 Street traffic re-circulation pilot program which could consist of a one-way conversion of Sheridan Avenue and Royal Palm Avenue from 37 Street to 44 Street, and the restriction of turning movements, particularly left turns, onto 41 Street (i.e. allowing north-south travel only) during weekday afternoon peak periods. The pilot is intended to facilitate northbound/southbound vehicular travel within the City of Miami Beach (“City”) rather than vehicular trips leaving the City via 41 Street during weekday afternoon peak hours.

At the March 30, 2024 PSNQLC meeting, the Committee discussed the item and recommended that the Administration conduct a community charrette to obtain input on a potential pilot program and return to the June 5, 2024 PSNQLC meeting with an update.

Pursuant to the Committee’s recommendation, on May 7, 2024, the Administration conducted a hybrid community charrette to obtain input on a potential pilot program. The community charrette was well-attended with 41 participants attending in person and 73 participants attending virtually via Zoom. During the community charrette, the Administration presented two (2) potential pilot options to the community. Both pilot options were intended to facilitate northbound-southbound vehicular traffic flow on Sheridan Avenue and Royal Palm Avenue through the 41 Street intersection during the weekday afternoon peak hours of 3:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. During the community charrette, most participants did not support a pilot program; however, following the community charrette, the Administration conducted a two (2) week online survey from May 9, 2024 through May 23, 2024. The purpose of the survey was to obtain feedback from the community on the two (2) options being considered for a potential pilot program. A total of 343 survey responses were received. Based on the general community feedback received, 34.69% of respondents supported Option 1; 34.11 of respondents supported Option 2; and 31.20% of respondents did not support the implementation of a pilot program. Therefore, approximately two- thirds of residents surveyed supported the implementation of a pilot program.

At the June 5, 2024 PSNQLC meeting, the Administration provided an update on the community charrette and the results of the community online survey. The PSNQLC recommended that the Administration implement Option 2 of the pilot program (hereafter referred to as “Pilot Program”) which maintains two-way traffic flow on Sheridan Avenue and Royal Palm Avenue from 40 Street to 41 Street and prohibits northbound and southbound left-turns onto 41 Street during weekday afternoon peak periods, from 3:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., for a duration not to exceed six (6) months. The Committee recommended that the Pilot Program commence after school resumes in August 2024 to allow the Administration time to collect traffic data prior to the implementation of the Pilot Program to be used for a post-implementation pilot effectiveness study.

At the June 26, 2024 City Commission meeting, the City Commission passed and adopted Resolution No. 2024-33116 (Attachment A) accepting the recommendation of the PSNQLC, at its June 5, 2024 meeting, directing the Administration to proceed with the Pilot Program, for a duration of up to six (6) months, commencing after school resumes in August 2024.

The Pilot Program was launched on September 17, 2024. The Transportation and Mobility Department engaged Alta Planning & Design, Inc. (“Consultant”), one of the City’s pre-qualified rotational transportation consultants, to prepare a pre-implementation and post-implementation traffic study to evaluate the Pilot Program’s effectiveness and its impacts on the surrounding streets (“Pilot Program Effectiveness Study”).

At the February 26, 2025 City Commission meeting, at the request of Commissioner David Suarez, the City Commission passed and adopted Resolution No. 2025-33547 (Attachment B) extending the Pilot Program for an additional six (6) months (from March 17, 2025 to September 17, 2025), subject to obtaining all necessary approvals from Miami-Dade County and FDOT to extend the Pilot Program. Said extension would allow the Administration additional time to collect traffic data during the City’s high impact period.

ANALYSIS

Pre-pilot traffic data was collected at various intersections along 41 Street on September 11, 2024. Pilot traffic data was collected on October 2, 2024, November 7, 2024, December 5, 2024, and April 3, 2025. The Consultant is anticipated to conduct a final data collection effort in September 2025 to enable a comprehensive “apples-to-apples” comparative analysis with pre- pilot data from September 2024 and subsequently finalize the Pilot Program Effectiveness Study, including findings and recommendations.

Based on the City staff’s observations and the Consultant’s data analysis for the period September 2024 through April 2025, the Pilot Program is performing as intended. As compared to pre-pilot traffic conditions, in general, more vehicles are traveling northbound and southbound along both Sheridan Avenue and Royal Palm Avenue and are able to cross the 41 Street intersection during each traffic signal cycle. Vehicle delay has also generally decreased along Sheridan Avenue and Royal Palm Avenue. As such, as a result of the Pilot Program, more vehicles are being processed through the intersections of 41 Street at Sheridan Avenue and Royal Palm Avenue. In addition, the Consultant identified that certain vehicles traveling northbound on Sheridan Avenue and Royal Palm Avenue were crossing 41 Street and subsequently making a left turn or illegal U-turn at 42 Street to access 41 Street and leave the City via the Julia Tuttle Causeway.

The Pilot Program is slated to terminate on September 17, 2025. Given the need to collect pilot traffic data during September 2025 and conduct a comparative analysis of September 2024 pre- pilot data and September 2025 pilot data, the Administration is recommending to extend the Pilot Program for an additional three (3) months (to December 17, 2025) to allow the Consultant additional time to analyze the data and finalize the Pilot Program Effectiveness Study for City Commission consideration.

FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT

Extending the Pilot Program for an additional three (3) months will require the continued deployment of Miami Beach Police resources at the intersections of 41 Street and Sheridan Avenue and 41 Street and Royal Palm Avenue to assist with placing traffic signs and enforcing the no-left turn prohibitions.

Does this Ordinance require a Business Impact Estimate? (FOR ORDINANCES ONLY)

If applicable, the Business Impact Estimate (BIE) was published on: See BIE at: https://www.miamibeachfl.gov/city-hall/city-clerk/meeting-notices/

FINANCIAL INFORMATION

N/A

CONCLUSION

The Administration is committed to exploring ways to manage increased traffic volumes and congestion more effectively on 41 Street and along the north-south avenues connecting to 41 Street, particularly during afternoon peak weekday periods.

The current Pilot Program is slated to terminate on September 17, 2025. As such, the Administration recommends that the City Commission adopt the resolution extending the Pilot Program for an additional three (3) months (to December 17, 2025) to allow the Consultant additional time to collect pilot traffic data in September 2025 and conduct a comparative analysis

of September 2024 pre-pilot data and September 2025 pilot data and, subsequently, finalize a report with a comprehensive evaluation of the Pilot Program’s effectiveness and impacts.

The Administration anticipates presenting the findings and recommendations of the Pilot Program Effectiveness Study to the City Commission at the December 17, 2025 City Commission meeting.

Applicable Area

Middle Beach

Was this Agenda Item initially requested by a lobbyist which, as defined in Code Sec. 2-481, includes a principal engaged in lobbying?

If so, specify the name of lobbyist(s) and principal(s):

Department

Transportation and Mobility

Sponsor(s)

Commissioner David Suarez

Co-sponsor(s)

Condensed Title

Extend 41 Street Traffic Re-circulation Pilot Program for up to (3) Months. (Suarez) TR

Previous Action (For City Clerk Use Only)