The following update is in part a replication of a recent email from the City of Miami Beach. WAvNA remains in active dialogue with the City of Miami Beach to ensure your concerns are heard and considered as planning for the Phase 2 enhancements continues.

The West Avenue Neighborhood Project is crucial to ensuring our neighborhood stays dry and remains a walkable, active community for years to come. West Avenue is one of the lowest lying areas in the city. I am sure many of you witnessed the recent flash flooding that impacted West Avenue on Sunday, November 20th. 

What's Happening
The city administration has listened to feedback from the community, partnering agencies and Commission. Over the past several months, the Design-Build team and city staff have conducted numerous meetings to discuss the path forward for the West Avenue Neighborhood Project. The meetings resulted in several scope changes. These changes were approved at the October 26, 2022, City Commission meeting, which allows the team to resume work on the project, as follows:

• At this time, the area north of 14 Street is approved and fully funded to resume design and begin construction, currently scheduled for April 2023.  Funding was reallocated from the southern part of the project to cover the additional project costs of the north contract.
• The south portion of the project (between 14 and 8 streets) is paused. The city has submitted grant applications for the south part of the project and is exploring additional funding opportunities to restart work in this area as quickly as possible. 
• An expanded harmonization policy will be implemented for the West Avenue project with the goal and intent of resolving what has been seen as the largest obstacle: harmonization agreements with the adjacent properties. The new policy for this project provides the opportunity to eliminate potential additional costs to residents. Property owners will no longer have to apply for Building Department permits as all private property harmonization work will be performed by the design-builder at the city’s expense. 
• Harmonization meetings will resume with new agreement packages. Property representatives will receive an updated package for review and execution. The team will be available to answer any questions and conduct follow-up meetings with the properties. The contractor, Ric-Man Construction of Florida (Ric-Man), will be leading the effort to conduct these meetings, with support from the team’s Public Information Liaison. Meetings will be scheduled first with properties within Segments 1 and 2 as construction will begin in these areas. A process was developed to streamline discussions and outline next steps should a property decline harmonization work. 

For more information, the West Avenue project page was recently relaunched on the city’s website. In addition to project information, an expanded Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section has been included and will grow with the project.