A major overhaul of downtown Miami’s Flagler Street is being pushed back for at least three months, the Daily Business Review has learned, after the city declined to accept various bids submitted by third-party contractors to execute the project.
A $13 million plan to improve the pedestrian experience along that historic Miami thoroughfare from Biscayne Boulevard to the county courthouse was touted with much fanfare this summer. Spearheaded by the Downtown Development Authority, an autonomous city agency run by a volunteer board, the plan sees Flagler Street made over with a flatter right of way, new and wider sidewalks, shade trees and permanent fixtures set up to facilitate occasionally closing the road so it becomes a pedestrian promenade. Funding for the plan is being divided between the city and Miami-Dade County with a $1 million assessment charged to property owners who will benefit from the project.
