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Commission backs Waterway Board call to verify Underline bridge clearance after residents warn of navigation conflicts
Summary
The City Commission accepted a Waterway Advisory Board recommendation asking staff to independently verify proposed pedestrian-bridge clearance on the Underline project and to maximize height where possible; residents said current plans risk blocking boat navigation when tides are high.
Coral Gables commissioners voted March 11 to accept a recommendation from the Waterway Advisory Board asking staff to verify the elevation data used in the county’s Underline pedestrian bridge design and to seek the highest feasible clearance consistent with other constraints.
The Advisory Board recommended that city engineers review the survey and tidal data used to set the planned bridge elevation and verify the clearance under both the proposed Underline bridge and the existing U.S. 1 bridge, and that the city press for the maximum feasible height. Doug Yoder, chair of the Waterway Advisory Board, told the commission the board had asked for a review because builders and boaters were using different baseline tide datasets.
"Make sure the mean high and mean low water data that were used in the design process are consistent with best engineering practice," Yoder said. "Once that is done, verify that the elevation of the pedestrian bridge is as high as it can be given the other limitations that apply." The board’s resolution also asked staff to check clearances under U.S. 1, which many speakers said is already low for small craft.
Representatives for the Underline and Miami‑Dade County told the board and the commission that engineers had maximized height within the limits posed by the Metrorail safety zone, Americans with Disabilities Act ramp slopes and other technical constraints. Eulace Cleckley, a lead Underline official, said the project team had raised the new bridge as high as the project’s conditions allow while maintaining ADA‑compliant walking slopes.
"This bridge has been designed and will be higher than both Ponce and U.S. 1 where feasible," Cleckley said. He urged residents to use the formal Coast Guard notice-and-comment process; county engineers said revised permit materials would be re-filed and publicly noticed.
Several residents and boaters urged the commission to press for additional clearance in the event the U.S. 1 bridge is not replaced; Roberta Neeway, who represents a large community of Underline users, said the Underline bridge design must account for recent higher-than-historical tides at the U.S. 1 reference marker. Manny Portuando, representing waterfront homeowners, said the decision will be felt for decades.
After public comment, commissioners voted 6–0 to accept the Waterway Advisory Board resolution and to direct staff to verify the survey inputs, report back on the highest feasible bridge elevation within operational constraints, and include the possibility of requesting FDOT review if U.S. 1 replacement occurs in the future.
