Pedestrian bridge to Freedom Park will miss opening games

Although preliminary work began two years ago on a Major League Soccer stadium next to Miami International Airport and games are due there next spring, planning for the pedestrian bridge to the stadium is still in early stages.

Developers of the Inter Miami CF stadium are still trying to pin down the exact location of the bridge that they must provide and are still seeking government funds to construct the bridge, a county committee was told last week.

“Obviously the soccer stadium will be open in advance of this bridge, but it would be very nice that we do not end up with a tremendous traffic quagmire in what is a residential neighborhood in Grapeland by not having this bridge,” said Commissioner Eileen Higgins, who has been pushing for the transit connector.

The bridge would link to the nearby Miami Intermodal Center, from which Metrorail and Tri-Rail passengers would walk to the stadium. That same bridge would serve a new City of Miami administration building now rising beside Miami Freedom Park. Freedom Park is to include as well a large office, commercial and hotel complex planned by stadium owners.

As Ms. Higgins told the county’s Transportation Committee, building the bridge is complicated. It must use property owned or controlled by the county, the airport, the Greater Miami Expressway Agency, the city and the Florida Department of Transportation.

As she also noted, the project got a very late start. “Over the past couple of months progress has gone from basically nothing to a lot,” she said.

“We have finally for the first time in county history bothered to build a stadium near transit, and so we need this bridge because otherwise you’re going to end up closing off 37th Avenue and 20th Street to get people from the train station over there,” Ms. Higgins warned. She noted that the new state budget includes $5 million for the bridge.

“This pedestrian bridge is very important not only to our project but the city administration building and to a new City of Miami 58-acre park,” said Iris Escarra, a land use and development attorney with Greenberg Traurig who represents the project.

As for the timing of the stadium’s opening, she said, “If we’re not playing a game next year in March 2026, I’m going to have to put on a pink shirt and go out there and kick a ball because that is our mandate, to make sure that stadium opens next year.”

In 2023, developers announced plans to be playing in the stadium in 2025.

While the bridge already has a City of Miami easement for its landing site, Ms. Escarra said, she is trying to connect with all agencies and is asking the state for funding allocations.

While a bridge master plan exists, she said, “the final design of it, so therefore the cost, is not complete yet. We have a concept design of where it would go.”

“When can I see a set of plans, or when are you ready to present?” Ms. Higgins asked. Probably within two weeks, Ms. Escarra replied.

“We’re hopeful to get the design and at least the path forward set this year, finalize the numbers and with the cost of construction, and then come back with the complete plan,” Ms. Escarra said.

Miami Freedom Park is a 131-acre multi-use development headlined by the stadium. The venture is led by Jorge Mas and Jose Mas and retired soccer star David Beckham. The sweeping development on city-leased land that was formerly the city’s Melreese golf course is also to include a new public park.

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