Miami Beach scuttles funded bike-pedestrian pathways

Written by Kelly Sanchez on March 4, 2026

Miami Beach last week shut down two ongoing mobility efforts – multi-use paths for North Meridian Avenue and Chase Avenue – due to safety concerns and resident opposition.

Both were in a master plan adopted in 2016 to add safe biking and walking around the city.

The North Meridian shared-use pathway was to connect Dade Boulevard north to West 28th Street along the east side of the Miami Beach Golf Course. The Chase Avenue aim was a shared-use path on Chase Avenue and 34th Street to provide a safe link from Alton Road to Prairie Avenue.

The projects were approved the year the master plan was OK’d. The North Meridian path had a $1,735,105 budget, fueled by $701,105 from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). The Chase Avenue $2,270,075 budget included $495,075 from FDOT. The city spent $292,357 on the North Meridian pathway and $583,224 on the Chase Avenue path before dumping them.

Commissioner David Suarez, who spearheaded the resolution to scuttle the paths, argued the North Meridian path posed a safety hazard for pedestrians and cyclists.

“I’m opposing the Meridian Avenue multi-use path because it places pedestrians and cyclists directly alongside an active golf course fairway in an area where stray golf balls already land beyond the course boundary,” he said. “And trust me, it happens every day. If we have to install large protective nets to prevent injuries, that alone tells us that this is the wrong alignment.”

Mr. Suarez said a safety net would be “completely inconsistent with a world-class golf course along a residential corridor,” and besides “this project does not prioritize where bikes are actually used daily.”

Other commissioners raised concerns about the money the city already spent.

“We’re inheriting things from past commissions,” said Laura Dominguez, “but canceling projects at the 11th hour when we spent so much money of taxpayer funds is troubling.”