University plans to build bridges with community

Photos courtesy of Stephan Sauls.

Mackenzie Bartels/Contributing Writer

Many South Floridians who have sat through Miami traffic can see why it is one of the cities leading the country in highway congestion and dangerous metro areas for pedestrians.

Perched between Florida State Road 836 and the City of Sweetwater’s main street, Southwest 109 Ave., Modesto A. Maidique Campus is one of the major destination points in Miami-Dade county.

However, UniversityCity Alliance’s research shows that within the past five years there have been 18 traffic accidents at the U.S. 41 and Southwest 109 Avenue intersection and 20 traffic accidents at the U.S. 41 and Southwest 107 intersection.

This is why the University has joined with the neighboring City of Sweetwater to propose building a pedestrian bridge. This bridge is said to cross Southwest Eighth St., otherwise known as Tamiami Trail, and will connect MMC with Sweetwater along 109 Ave.

“FIU is its own little island. Even crossing the street seems like such a mission,” said senior business major Kathryn Velez.

FIU and Sweetwater have partnered with Miami-Dade County, Miami-Dade Expressway Authority, International Business Machines Corporation and the Florida Department of Transportation in a project called UniversityCity Alliance with the goal to combine university life with the surrounding communities.

The project’s goal is to attract more pedestrian foot traffic and increase the amount of public transit riders to the area.

Photo provided by Stephan Sauls

Funded by a mix of U.S. Department of Transportation’s Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery funds, UniversityCity will build a pedestrian bridge that links students to Sweetwater’s urban center, providing a safe connection to the new 15-story, student-oriented housing complex that is already underway across Southwest Eighth St.

The University has increased enrollment by 25 percent in the last five years, according to Stephan Sauls, vice president of Governmental Relations.

“We will continue to grow and become a major economic driver for this area,” said Sauls. “This [project] is a piece of that puzzle.”

In addition to this pedestrian bridge project, a Smart Parking Garage has been approved for construction next to the Red Parking Garage on campus. This Smart Parking Garage will serve as a transit terminal, providing a centralized location for passengers to transfer safely between bus routes.

“As a student who’s been living at school without a car, I only wish campus had something like this sooner,” said junior psychology major Laura Aguilar.

“The integration of design is part of UniversityCity. We’re planning this together, for the safety of students, the development of the university and the economic development of Sweetwater,” said Sauls.

During the Master Plan meeting, President Mark B. Rosenberg said keeping the external surrounding community in mind, not just the physical location of the FIU campus, is important.

“Students without cars can still get out of the FIU campus bubble and see the area,” said Aguilar.

“The idea is to plan what happens here and plan the streetscape activities so that they all combine,” said Sauls.

Sauls said this includes conversations with transportation entities.

Photo provided by Stephan Sauls

The pedestrian bridge has been approved by the Metropolitan Planning Organization and has the support of the FIU congressional delegation. However, the university is still facing a specific pending proposal before the US Department of Transportation.

A decision will be made in September by Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx.

“[The secretary] can award part of it, all of it or none of it,” said Sauls. “We have had two tries, and we’re trying for the third time. Each time it gets better and we’ve been encouraged to continue the effort.”

This project has been in the plans since 2010. If the proposal is approved, the project will begin fall 2014.

Sauls said,“We’re pushing the envelope. This is a world’s ahead agenda.”

 

1 Comment on "University plans to build bridges with community"

  1. Great news! I am a junior at Florida Institute of Tecnology. I am doing a study on the importance of a pedestrian bridge similar to the design of yours. We face the exact situation with a four lane highway students have to cross everyday and everyday seems to get worse. If you could give me any research or public info sites I can look to do my research on what this project envolved to become reality would be great.

    Thank you,

    Robert Dougherty
    Forensic Psychology Major
    Florida Institute of Technology
    Melbourne, Florida

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