Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
No I don't live in Miami, but I do go to Miami often when I'm in need of supplies since I'm residing in the Caribbean. I do see that the SB lane of Biscayne Blvd (30 MPH) does turn on SE 2nd St into SE 2nd Ave briefly before turning into Brickell Ave. It seemed like what you was saying was to close off much of the SB land of Biscayne and place all of the SB traffic along NE 2nd Ave (25 MPH), which I believe that was what you was implying. It also looks like Biscayne Blvd is the Miami equivalent of the West Side Hwy in NY between 57th St and 14th St as a four lane highway, while NE 2nd Ave is a local street which was never designed to be part of a federal highway in any way except for the brief segment which leads into Brickell Ave, not sure if you thought about that.
Hmm... I'll have to disagree with you again here, as the West Side Highway functions exactly as that: A highway, meant to jettison drivers from one end of the island to the other, Separated by concrete barriers and all. Biscayne is quite literally an 8 lane boulevard with a massive "median" turned parking lot in the heart of the action, which makes it a disaster to drive and walk through... It's quite literally twice the width of the West Side Highway, and functions completely differently. The stretch of Biscayne is only a mile long. I have no issues with is North of the MacArthur. It's the obnoxiously wide 1 mile stretch with the huge grade-level median and parking lot that makes it awful.
Next time you're in Miami, I invite you to try to go to a Heat game, or just take a walk to Bayfront. You'll be playing a live version of *******. (Why is this censored? Anyway... It's a video game with a frog crossing the street. You get it.)
Better yet, try doing this with kids or while walking your dog.
Interestingly, the width of the space between the Northbound and Southbound lanes is 140 feet. That's the same as the width of space between Lafayette and Center St. Enough space for buildings. In other words, Biscayne is already in prime position to repurpose itself as two separate roads (N and S) with some sort of structure built into that space in between.
Instead of useless space with palm trees, put a sidewalk here, and destroy those parking lots. A voila, you now have two proper roads, more sidewalk space, and a repurposed median that can now be a nice green space or something. https://www.google.com/maps/@25.7770...8192?entry=ttu
Hmm... I'll have to disagree with you again here, as the West Side Highway functions exactly as that: A highway, meant to jettison drivers from one end of the island to the other, Separated by concrete barriers and all. Biscayne is quite literally an 8 lane boulevard with a massive "median" turned parking lot in the heart of the action, which makes it a disaster to drive and walk through... It's quite literally twice the width of the West Side Highway, and functions completely differently. The stretch of Biscayne is only a mile long. I have no issues with is North of the MacArthur. It's the obnoxiously wide 1 mile stretch with the huge grade-level median and parking lot that makes it awful.
Next time you're in Miami, I invite you to try to go to a Heat game, or just take a walk to Bayfront. You'll be playing a live version of *******. (Why is this censored? Anyway... It's a video game with a frog crossing the street. You get it.)
Better yet, try doing this with kids or while walking your dog.
I get the peril of trying to cross Biscayne, but Biscayne literally serves a purpose as well very similar to the West Side Hwy. West Side is a state highway (NY 9A), while Biscayne is a federal highway (US 1), but both are major arteries serving their respective cities. Closing off the southbound lane of Biscayne and replacing it with NE 2nd Ave is basically going to make traffic in Miami a whole lot worse since NE 2nd Ave is designed to be 2 lanes southbound while Biscayne has 4 lanes each way, which is why I said your plan to close of Biscayne's southbound lanes and create NE 2nd Ave as the new southbound lane will only make NE 2nd Ave a huge bottleneck since NE 2nd Ave was never designed to serve as a major artery and if you wanted to do so, then you'd have to add two extra lanes for that, which is unnecessary, as most of Biscayne serves that purpose anyways!!!
I suggested that the median Biscayne between 3rd St and the future Signature Bridge be utilized for a potential Metrorail elevated ROW, only to deviate away from the future Signature Bridge via Herald Plaza and back onto Biscayne via 15th St northward to Aventura. I believe that it traffic and pedestrian safety is of great concern for you, the you should contact the city of Miami, Miami-Dade County, and FL DOT for your concerns, and I'm pretty sure the response is going to be the same which is that nobody is going to change Biscayne from a two-way thoroughfare into a northbound one and allow NE 2nd Ave, which is designed for two lanes and is marked at 25 MPH while Biscayne is marked at 30 MPH, is a poor substitute for such as southbound lane.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arcenal813
Interestingly, the width of the space between the Northbound and Southbound lanes is 140 feet. That's the same as the width of space between Lafayette and Center St. Enough space for buildings. In other words, Biscayne is already in prime position to repurpose itself as two separate roads (N and S) with some sort of structure built into that space in between.
Instead of useless space with palm trees, put a sidewalk here, and destroy those parking lots. A voila, you now have two proper roads, more sidewalk space, and a repurposed median that can now be a nice green space or something. https://www.google.com/maps/@25.7770...8192?entry=ttu
Quite literally anything could be done and it would be better than what's there now. It's just too wide for that area, and for what its purpose is.
Lafayette and Centre Sts in Lower Manhattan and Allen St in the Lower East Side serve and completely different purpose than what Biscayne is designed to do, in which Biscayne is designed to carry huge amounts of traffic to and from Miami while Allen, Lafayette, and Centre Sts serve as local arteries for their neighborhoods. Plus, the Manhattan streets are primarily two lanes excluding the parking and the turn lanes and my assumption is that all those streets are 25 MPH, while Biscayne is a federal highway, which is designed to be marked at 30 MPH.
A lot of people would love to see more greenspace and parkspace, as well as wider sidewalks on both sides of Biscayne, and I'm one of those people that wouldn't mind seeing a slight change of Biscayne into an urban, more pedestrian friendly artery of the city, but you live in FL, which makes new highways and new suburban cities like Cape Coral and Port St Lucie which cater to suburbanites and automobiles. I'd love to see a Metrorail line along Biscayne as well, as I believe that would help grow the pedestrian traffic and maybe help slow down the traffic along Biscayne, but the reality is that we live in an autocentric society whether we like it or not.
The only parallel between Miami and NY is between Biscayne Blvd and the West Side Hwy when it comes to roads. Using local streets such as Allen, Centre, and Lafayette Sts in Manhattan to compare to Biscayne was a poor comparison since those streets are inland and surrounded by buildings and are local main streets while Biscayne and West Side run parallel to bodies of water and are both highways and major arteries for their respective cities!
The only parallel between Miami and NY is between Biscayne Blvd and the West Side Hwy when it comes to roads. Using local streets such as Allen, Centre, and Lafayette Sts in Manhattan to compare to Biscayne was a poor comparison since those streets are inland and surrounded by buildings and are local main streets while Biscayne and West Side run parallel to bodies of water and are both highways and major arteries for their respective cities!
I was waiting for that last comment. I think a MAJOR issue is that Biscayne doesn't hug the water the way the West Side Highway does. There are MAJOR points of interest on both sides of the road, including a huge stadium, hotels, condos, etc. I think the Lafayette comparison is quite accurate, in that it doesn't really serve as a thruway to shuttle cars from North to South Miami (that's I-95... Which is a different problem that shouldn't be there to begin with.) It's very much a local street, and not a highway in that stretch. If it was meant to remain a highway, they did a poor job at it.
The West Side Hwy is literally a highway that circles all of Manhattan, turning into the FDR, hugging the water on both sides. They are not the same at all.
Unless you meant to compare it to West St in Battery Park, which is more comparable. Somewhat...
At least the median is a mix of greenspace separated by an elevated curb and bollards for easier pedestrian crossing, and not parking lots encouraging traffic to come in and out of said median.
Also, Biscayne/US 1 isn't even a proper thruway through there, as going South, it ends and you have to turn right onto one-way 2nd street before turning left after a few blocks to get onto Brickell anyway. A thruway highway doesn't dead end like that. The way it's designed, it's a local road.
You keep harping about it being "a federal highway."
The irony of that is that this very same federal highway splits into two, right there in Miami, and turns into two one-way streets: 2nd Street and Biscayne. It's already done. It's already two separate, one-way streets.
Basically, it's ALREADY two one-way boulevards, only poorly done. The fact that entire buildings can fit between the two sides says it all. They don't have to destroy anything except for that giant median and parking lots. Put some streetside cafes and bars along with sidewalks there, and problem solved.
Last edited by Arcenal813; 02-14-2024 at 11:59 AM..
I was waiting for that last comment. I think a MAJOR issue is that Biscayne doesn't hug the water the way the West Side Highway does. There are MAJOR points of interest on both sides of the road, including a huge stadium, hotels, condos, etc. I think the Lafayette comparison is quite accurate, in that it doesn't really serve as a thruway to shuttle cars from North to South Miami (that's I-95... Which is a different problem that shouldn't be there to begin with.) It's very much a local street, and not a highway in that stretch. If it was meant to remain a highway, they did a poor job at it.
The West Side Hwy is literally a highway that circles all of Manhattan, turning into the FDR, hugging the water on both sides. They are not the same at all.
Unless you meant to compare it to West St in Battery Park, which is more comparable. Somewhat...
At least the median is a mix of greenspace separated by an elevated curb and bollards for easier pedestrian crossing, and not parking lots encouraging traffic to come in and out of said median.
Biscayne doesn't need to be adjacent to the water in any way, as long as it runs parallel to the Atlantic Ocean, it does it's job as a major north-south artery. If you're referring to local streets, those would be Miami Ave and the numbered avenues that run parallel to Biscayne. The local streets are designed to be driven at 25 MPH wile Biscayne has a 30 MPH limits through many parts of the city. Maybe you need to talk to the local traffic engineers about this because this has gotten tiring.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arcenal813
Also, Biscayne/US 1 isn't even a proper thruway through there, as going South, it ends and you have to turn right onto one-way 2nd street before turning left after a few blocks to get onto Brickell anyway. A thruway highway doesn't dead end like that. The way it's designed, it's a local road.
You keep harping about it being "a federal highway."
The irony of that is that this very same federal highway splits into two, right there in Miami, and turns into two one-way streets: 2nd Street and Biscayne. It's already done. It's already two separate, one-way streets.
That's because Biscayne is a federal highway!!! There are a lot of federal highways throughout the country that are operated as local access thoroughfares in many cities and towns. US 1 goes through many major cities and towns either as a local or a limited access (expressway) highway from ME all the way to FL.
And for somebody who claims to know much more about Miami than myself, and I don't claim to know the city in any way, shape, or form nor am I a Miami expert, don't you think that 2nd street would be an east-west street and all the numbered avenues would be north-south? You've pretty much contradicted yourself in the last quote!!! The median between Biscayne isn't even that wide to create a functioning city block, stop exaggerating!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arcenal813
Basically, it's ALREADY two one-way boulevards, only poorly done. The fact that entire buildings can fit between the two sides says it all. They don't have to destroy anything except for that giant median and parking lots. Put some streetside cafes and bars along with sidewalks there, and problem solved.
All the back and forth arguments here won't change Biscayne as a major federal highway. Biscayne is wide, but I'm willing to wager that Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia is way wider that what Biscayne can ever be. Biscayne has up to eight lanes, while Roosevelt Blvd has up to 12 lanes, and at least Biscayne does have a wide median for pedestrian safety reasons and the streets are maintained at 30 MPH while there's no such median for Roosevelt Blvd and the lowest permissible speed is a pretty dangerous 40 MPH, with speeds in the reckless 60 to even 70 MPH in certain cases. There's a reason why Roosevelt Blvd in Philadelphia is known as the "Boulevard of Death" and some of the intersections are the most dangerous in the country. Biscayne isn't as dangerous nor as infamous as the Blvd (what Philadelphians call Roosevelt) is in the NE.
Final word: There is more than one “2nd.” One of them runs South, parallel to Biscayne.
The median at Biscayne where the parking lots are is 150 feet wide.
Jews in Miami say Oy while Caribbean Latinos say ¡Ay yi yi!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
