Flamingo Streetscape Projects -- Issues Raised on First Phase Implementation -- Abstract from BODR 2002

The First Implementation Section of Flamingo Neighborhood Capital Improvement Projects will address:  Washington Avenue to Meridian Avenue, 7th Street to 9th Street;  + Meridian Avenue to 10th Street, + Penn Plaza – south toward 6th Street. 

Issues Raised:  Detail Design Requirements, Lighting, Euclid and Pennsylvania Avenues, Crosswalk Treatment, Roadway Alternatives, Greater Opportunities, and Issues Outside First Implementation Section.  The full description of these issues can be found at the following link:   POSSIBLE ADVOCACY ISSUES

To further shed light on these issues, please note the following Comments from Basis of Design Report – June 2002.

Each of the proposed above-ground improvement projects . . . include assorted amounts of pedestrian scale street lights, wayfinding signage and historic district markers.

Traffic Calming  . . . Another one of the most requested neighborhood improvements was for more traffic calming. The planning exercise identified several locations in need of traffic calming and several alternatives were studied and proposed. Each of the proposed funded projects have some measure of traffic calming such as the reduction of travel lanes, the reduction of crosswalk lengths, the creation of a "tighter" section through the introduction of street trees, etc.

One traffic calming alternative has been selected to be utilized in locations where there is no other proposed funded project planned. Bump-outs contain each of the above-mentioned traffic calming devices and provide visual and physical "calming" effects when placed at specific intersections in a coordinated pattern (Appendix "B" – Sheet 20).

Euclid Avenue  . . . Euclid Avenue is a heavily traveled North/South vehicular corridor through the Flamingo neighborhood that connects 5th Street to Lincoln Road. The existing section of the Avenue consists of two 17’-0" wide travel lanes with +/- 2’-6" planting strips and 5’-0" sidewalks on either side. The Avenue was identified by residents as being the least pedestrian friendly Avenue in the neighborhood due to the speed of traffic and the lack of shade along the sidewalks.

The proposed improvement is to modify the existing section to match that of the "preferred" Meridian Avenue section. This would require relocating the existing curb & gutter to allow for +/- 7’-6" planting strips with a continuous shade tree canopy. This would also "calm" the traffic by reducing the travel lanes widths to +/- 12’-0". To further improve the pedestrian experience, the existing sidewalks will be widened to +/- 6’-0" where possible (Appendix "B" – Sheet 21).

Pennsylvania Plaza:   This unique site is located at the intersection of 7th Street, Pennsylvania Avenue and Washington Avenue. The existing site is an underutilized, partially paved, partially planted trapezoidal shaped right-of-way bordered by 7th Street and Washington Avenue and on axis with Pennsylvania Avenue with a view of the Sony Building on Lincoln Road. This site provides an opportunity to provide a "pocket park" and serve as a focal point for both the Flamingo and Lummus neighborhoods.

The proposed improvement is to "clean up" the existing site by repairing and replacing the concrete surface and organizing the site planting to formalize and reorient the plaza to its surroundings. A new double row of shade trees will be planted on axis with Pennsylvania Avenue to provide shade from the afternoon sun as well as screen an existing adjacent residential parking lot. Pedestrian plaza scale lighting will be provided to ensure a safe, more pleasant environment and to illuminate a proposed textured map of the City’s Designated Historic Architectural District (Appendix "B" – Sheet 25).

Pennsylvania Avenue:   The two blocks along lower Pennsylvania just north of the proposed Pennsylvania Plaza include several multi-story buildings that "front" Washington Avenue and present a "back" to the low-rise residential buildings across Pennsylvania Avenue.

The proposed improvements include sidewalk repair and new bump-outs with shade trees to mitigate the effect of the scale and character of the larger buildings that front Washington Avenue on the smaller buildings that front Pennsylvania. The shade trees will also protect and define the existing parallel parking lanes (Appendix "B" – Sheet 27).

Issues Arising Outside the First Implementation Area

10th Street:   10th Street is the only uninterrupted street in the Flamingo/Lummus neighborhood that connects Biscayne Bay to the Atlantic Ocean. It is a unique opportunity to create a direct pedestrian link between the two bodies of water.

The proposed improvement is to provide a pedestrian friendly corridor with wide sidewalks and a continuous row of shade trees through the Flamingo/Lummus neighborhood. The street trees will be planted in tree grates (or equivalent) and the sidewalks widened to +/- 7’-6". The street trees will encroach +/- 2’-9" into the parking lanes at +/- 20’-0" centers to help shade and delineate individual parking spaces. The placement of the trees should not reduce the number of existing parking spaces. In order to achieve the proposed street section and "calm" the traffic, the travel lanes will be reduced to 10’-0" each and the parallel parking lanes to 7’-0" wide similar to the streets east of Washington Avenue (Appendix "B" – Sheet 19).

Drexel Avenue  . . . Two of the Flamingo Park neighborhood’s most interesting pedestrian oriented streets/destinations are located only two blocks apart but are unconnected and their proximity remains unknown to many. A pedestrian friendly link between Lincoln Road and Española Way has been a community priority for several years. Several proposals were designed and evaluated each consisting of wider walks, shade trees and ample signage.

The proposed improvement is to connect Lincoln Road and Española Way by way of a median promenade down the center of Drexel Avenue from Lincoln Lane South to 15th Street. The character of the promenade will relate to the existing improvements at Lincoln Road and the soon to be existing improvements at Española Way including the proposed plaza and fountain. An extensive street renovation will include the replacement and relocation of sidewalks, curbs & gutters and travel lanes and the construction of a new +/- 20’-0" wide tree lined walkway with a special pavement treatment and pedestrian scale street lighting. This proposed improvement requires the modification of the existing traffic pattern including restricting left turn movements from Drexel Avenue onto 16th and 15th Streets. **Modified by Commission

Find this information at --
http://flamingomb.org/1Q2010/BODR_Abstract_SouthEast_Section.doc