Miami Beach’s Lincoln Road makeover is expected to take about two and a half more years to finish, according to the city’s director of Capital Improvement Projects, David Gomez. The three-phase project carries a total budget of about $70,942,000, covering design, construction and other costs.
The first phase, which upgraded lighting, is complete. The second phase, along Drexel and Meridian avenues, is nearly done. Gomez said the Drexel Avenue work was declared substantially complete within the past few weeks, and the city aims to reopen Meridian Avenue to vehicles in the coming weeks. Drexel’s changes include wider sidewalks, new pavers, landscaping, lighting, amphitheater-style seating at Lincoln Road, and a pedestrian-only stretch between Lincoln Road and Lincoln Lane North.
The final phase covers Lincoln Road between Washington and Lenox avenues. Crews will replace the faded black-and-white “piano keys” pavement markings with a more durable traffic coating. The work also includes landscaping, refurbishment of the Lapidus follies, concrete repairs and new drainage inlets. Gomez said the city expects to award a construction contract for that phase in the coming weeks.
The city plans to limit how much work happens at once to reduce the effect on businesses, even though that will stretch the timeline. The project was delayed earlier by the Covid-19 pandemic and high construction prices. The city is coordinating with the Lincoln Road Business Improvement District on the effort, which aims to draw more visitors and shoppers to the corridor.
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