Reimagining Calle Ocho: Urban Designers Want To Take It Back
Change may be coming to Calle Ocho.
In
the 1960s, the street running through the heart of Little Havana was
transformed from a small neighborhood road to a one-way, three-lane
highway intended to alleviate traffic flowing downtown.
As a result, cars have reigned supreme, taking away the pedestrian-friendly atmosphere the street used have.
Urban
design firm PlusUrbia has decided it's time to bring that atmosphere
back. The firm just released a plan for Calle Ocho that seeks a return
to the two-lane, two-way street it used to be. The plan also includes an
expanded sidewalk, a bike lane, and a bus lane.
“The
key word here is options. You need to provide options for mobility, not
just for the car,” says Juan Mullerat, the director of PlusUrbia.
The
Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has also been looking into
redesigning the area. Ivette Ruiz-Paz, spokesperson with FDOT, explains
that in addition to goals like developing a pedestrian-friendly area and
improving safety, they also seek to improve access to Brickell.
“FDOT
is studying the area because of all the growth in Brickell and West
Brickell. The trouble is that FDOT views improvement as just more cars:
faster, wider, one way,” says PlusUrbia communications manager Steve
Wright, “our vision is, it’s not like we’re anti-car, but the vision is:
share things.”
Wright and Mullerat both live within
several blocks of Calle Ocho, and approached this project as concerned
community members seeking to improve the status of their neighborhood.
In
addition to concerns with safety and accessibility, they also credit
the street’s unfriendliness to pedestrians with taking away from the
neighborhood’s personality.
Wright, who moved to
Little Havana because of the fame and character of Calle Ocho, says
every so often a local shop goes out of business and a chain gets put
in. “Developers say ‘Look, it’s a highway. Put highway-like development
on it.’ Pretty soon the character that drove everyone there will be
gone.”
The firm is quick to point out this proposal is
by no means a final plan, but instead a jumping off point for creating
more discussion around how to create the best possible Calle Ocho.
“What
we proposed is not the final or the best solution. Call it an appetizer
to see if we can get people out there and really put our minds together
something to make Calle Ocho more of a destination instead of a
pass-through highway from the turnpike to Brickell,” says Mullerat.
The
plan has received comments from community members already, and
PlusUrbia is awaiting to hear what FDOT will say. There is precedent of
the agency working with private firms before, and Mullerat is hopeful
FDOT will take into consideration community needs and concerns when
deciding how to proceed with Calle Ocho.
Ruiz-Paz
says of FDOT's timeline that they expect to have "short term pedestrian
improvements" put into place within the next two or three years.
Mullerat sums up the project in a single line: “This is the heart of Miami — we better get it right.”
