CITT hears South Corridor BRT and supporting infrastructure updates; busway service set to begin this summer

Officials with the Department of Transportation and Public Works told the Citizens Independent Transportation Trust on Feb. 26 that the South Corridor Transitway — a bus rapid transit (BRT) project — is on track to begin service this summer while a slate of supporting parking, station and operations projects move through design and construction phases.

Alex Barrios, interim deputy director for DTPW, said the limited-stop busway service is “programmed for the busway to begin service July 21” and that stations and related facilities are being delivered through a mixture of PTP (People’s Transportation Plan) dollars and federal and state grants. He told the trust that the 160th Street station platforms are on schedule even where associated parking garages are delayed by code and fire-suppression changes tied to electric-vehicle infrastructure.

The trust was given project-level briefings on multiple South Corridor elements: a roughly 644-space parking garage at 168th Street (budgeted at about $58 million, including a $9.5 million FTA grant and the remainder from PTP), a new park-and-ride at 260th Street (planning budget about $2.5 million, PTP and FDOT grants expected), upgrades at Dadeland South Intermodal station (PTP-funded work to extend canopies, replace escalators/elevators, add charger infrastructure and retrofit passenger amenities), and a Quail Roost transit parking element embedded in a larger transit-oriented development (PTD) that will include both county-owned…