Miami-Dade breaks ground on South Corridor Rapid Transit Project

June 10, 2021

The South Dade TransitWay is one of six rapid transit corridors that will bring 63 percent of the county’s population within two miles of the corridors.

Mischa Wanek-Libman

Miami-Dade County held a groundbreaking ceremony June 4 for the South Corridor Rapid Transit Project that will ultimately deliver 20 miles of BRT.

The Miami-Dade County Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTPW) held a groundbreaking ceremony June 4 for the South Corridor Rapid Transit Project, a 20-mile corridor that will connect some of the region’s fastest growing communities along an exclusive transit right-of-way.

The South Corridor Rapid Transit Project is one of six corridors in the Strategic Miami Area Rapid Transit Plan, which aims to expand and connect premium transit services and improve transit reliability.

The bus rapid transit (BRT) corridor will parallel US-1, be equipped with signal preemption and offer a 60-minute ride between Homestead and Downtown Miami. The corridor includes 14 new state-of-the-art stations that will serve both BRT and all-stop routes, as well as 16 additional stops for the all-stop route on the South Dade TransitWay.

“Today is the result of years of planning, vision and coordination with a shared goal in mind: to reshape transportation in Miami-Dade County,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. “Breaking ground on the South Dade Rapid Transit Project – the first SMART plan corridor – is a major milestone and step forward in our work to better connect all corners of Miami-Dade. This project will provide important transportation relief in the short term, as we continue to push for expansion to rail – and critically, all the BRT stations along the corridor will be convertible to rail.”

In late August 2020, the project was awarded a $99.9-million grant through the Federal Transit Administration Capital Investment Grant Program, which represents 33 percent of the project’s total estimated cost of $299.9 million. DTPW’s Small Starts CIG funds were the first the county had received since the Metromover extension in 1993 and the original South Miami-Dade Busway in 1999.

The remaining project cost is being covered with $100 million from the Florida Department of Transportation and an additional $100 million from Miami-Dade County.

In October 2020, DTPW awarded a design-build contract to Obrascón Huarte Lain (OHL), a Spanish multinational construction and civil engineering company.

About the Author

Mischa Wanek-Libman | Editor in Chief

Mischa Wanek-Libman serves as editor in chief of Mass Transit magazine. She is responsible for developing and maintaining the magazine’s editorial direction and is based in the western suburbs of Chicago.

Wanek-Libman has spent more than 20 years covering transportation issues including construction projects and engineering challenges for various commuter railroads and transit agencies. She has been recognized for editorial excellence through her individual work, as well as for collaborative content.

She is an active member of the American Public Transportation Association's Marketing and Communications Committee and serves as a Board Observer on the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) Board of Directors.

She is a graduate of Drake University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Mass Communication with a major in magazine journalism and a minor in business management.