Reso 2013-2091 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Gateway Park Pedestrian Bridge To date, Gateway Park is the largest, most costly park project in the history of Sunny • Isles Beach. It is strategically located and aptly named as it serves as the premier gateway into the City. It spans across approximately 4 acres and has state of the art design features including a large open lawn and walking paths, a playground, an interactive water play feature, a performing arts stage, a butterfly garden, a banquet facility space, and a parking garage with 371 parking spaces. Given the strategic location and the amenities of Gateway Park, its daily usage will'far exceed that of any of the other parks in the City. Given this, it is necessary for the City to design and build a pedestrian bridge that will cross the westbound lanes of Sunny Isles Boulevard (SR 826) just east of North Bay Road. The bridge is an essential component of increasing pedestrian safety; enhancing public access to Gateway Park, surrounding parks, and the rest of the City; connecting recreation areas and bike trails; and providing for unimpeded traffic flow on a major transportation artery that leads traffic out of the City. This bridge is a crucial part of providing a safe way for pedestrians to cross the five lanes of busy westbound traffic on Sunny Isles Boulevard (SR 826). The primary objective of adding the bridge is pedestrian safety. On a daily basis, pedestrians illegally cross the westbound lanes of Sunny Isles Boulevard (SR 826) and climb over the concrete median barrier in order to access the City. Figures 1-6 in Appendix A provide photograph documentation of some of these everyday incidences. The number of people trying to cross the westbound lanes will increase once the development of Gateway Park is completed, thereby increasing the potential for pedestrian safety hazards. The bridge mitigates these hazards. By comparison, Heritage Park, located at the north end of the City, has similar features to Gateway Park: playgrounds, an open lawn, walking paths, an outdoor stage, a splash • pad interactive water feature, and a parking garage. Heritage Park had an estimated total of more than 29,000 visitors in FY 2011-2012. In reality, this number is much higher as the estimates are based on measuring usage at one time per day and does not capture the total number of patrons in an entire day. It also does not include usage during special events. Usage at Gateway Park will be much higher as it is a larger, more strategically located park. Pedestrian safety at special events is also of utmost importance. Since June 2011, citywide park usage for special events includes approximately 28,000 patrons. (See Appendix B for more information regarding citywide park usage.) Given its larger size and more central location, Gateway Park will be a more appropriate site for many of these special events in the future. The pedestrian bridge will also enhance the City's walkability by opening up access to Gateway Park and surrounding areas. Nearby venues such as Pier Park (which is approximately 1,400 feet to the east of Gateway Park), beach access points, and 1 April 19, 2013