Long-sought Ludlam Trail two years away

Ludlam Trail, a 5.6-mile multiuse non-motorized recreational shared-use path, is moving toward the design of its recreational portion, with construction anticipated to start in the fall of 2026.

As stated on the Miami-Dade website, the Ludlam Trail corridor is to run “between 400 feet north of Northwest Seventh Street and Southwest 80th Street between 69th and 70th avenues, within the former railroad right-of-way.”

The trail began as a community-driven effort and dates back a decade or more, said Alejandro Zizold, chief of park planning and research at Miami-Dade County Parks. “The former owners of the corridor FECI [Florida East Coast Industries] proposed to develop along the entire corridor and the community reached out to the county and requested that the idea be looked at and that there could be a possibility of providing an amenity, a corridor as a trail connector for the community to enjoy, and at the same time, be able to accommodate some of what the developers, the owners of the property, were proposing to build.”

Two public charrettes in 2015 heard the community’s needs, desires and visions.

“The trail has different components,” said Mr. Zizold. “Part of those components include three bridges over state roads, those being Flagler, Eighth Street and Bird Road. For those three pedestrian bridges overpasses, we have partnered with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) for them to design and construct the bridges on behalf of the county. The design process is anticipated to start now this summer. At the same time for the rest of the trail, we [Miami-Dade County Parks] are gearing to putting out a request for a solicitation for a design firm to do the design of the recreational portion of the trail.”

Currently on site, the county-owned parts of the land are fenced off from public use, said Mr. Zizold. Before the county acquired the land, the Division of Environmental Resource Management had requested a prior order to fence off the land due to contamination from its use as a railway.

“Bird Road has already completed a section of trail as part of their initial phase of development, and that’s right on the south side of Bird Road, so if you visit that area of the corridor, you will see that the initial construction of the trail is already available to the public through the private development area,” said Mr. Zizold.

In addition to the three pedestrian bridges over state roads that FDOT is to begin designing this summer, the project includes a fourth bridge over Coral Way, said Mr. Zizold. “We’re working with the developer … and they will be constructing the bridge over Coral Way on behalf of the county as part of the project.”

The Ludlam Trail will include areas in which a bicycle path is separated from the pedestrian path, said Mr. Zizold. Shelters and areas where the community can gather and rest while exercising or walking through the trail will be provided as well as two pedestrian and bicycle bridges over canals.

Additionally, he said, the trail will “include improvements to street crossings.… It’s going to include going through city parks and county parks and it’s basically going to be connecting almost the airport to all the way down to Dadeland metro stations – all of this in a park-like setting that the community will be able to enjoy and go to for relaxation, exercise as well as for mobility.”

Plans are in motion as the design team for the project is to be hired.

“What we’re looking toward is hiring a design team that will make the design drawings so that those could be permitted and constructed. We don’t have final plans yet. What we have are the concept plans and those concept plans, yes, we the county have reviewed them and work with consultants and other agencies … and with the community,” said Mr. Zizold.

The county is committed to funding and building the trail, he said. “Having said that, we’re constantly looking for opportunities for outside funding resources that would be allocated for the trail.”

Ludlam Trail is anticipated to deliver to residents and visitors a community-driven trail.

“This is really going to be a wonderful asset that the community will be happy once it’s implemented,” said Mr. Zizold. “It will help improve the quality of life of all Miami-Dade County residents. It’s a project that originated with the vision of the community and the ask of the community to our county elected officials that they really saw that this corridor could become a wonderful recreational as well as an alternate mode of transportation corridor for this area of the county.”