Miami wins $20 million grant for Civic Center pedestrian bridge
Miami won a $20 million grant for a 1,450-foot bridge that would give workers, riders and visitors a safer path into Civic Center and Freedom Park.
Miami won a $20 million federal grant to help build a 1,450-foot pedestrian bridge linking the future Miami Civic Center and Freedom Park with nearby transit and public destinations. The crossing will give residents, workers and eventgoers a safer, quicker, drier and less sun-beaten way over traffic and the canal, with Miami-Dade County handling the local match and oversight duties.
Miami-Dade County introduced the bridge item on June 2, 2025 and brought it to the Transportation Committee on July 8, 2025, where staff said there was already an allocation in that year’s budget for the build. County records also show the developer was still working through the bridge’s exact physical location.
The route sits inside a complicated public-private district that touches county roads, Greater Miami Expressway Agency property, Florida Power & Light lines, South Florida Water Management District land and city property. At the July 2025 meeting, Miami-Dade was working with the developer, the City of Miami, the Florida Department of Transportation and the Greater Miami Expressway Agency. County Commissioner Eileen Higgins said the bridge was a requirement of the soccer stadium construction, while Commissioner Roberto Gonzalez Bermudez questioned whether the county was subsidizing a privately driven project. City Attorney Iris Escarra said the crossing was essential not only to the stadium but also to the city’s administrative buildings and the new 58-acre park.
The Miami Intermodal Center at Miami International Airport is the most convenient public transit station for Nu Stadium at Miami Freedom Park, and the county has promoted access by Metrorail, Metrobus, a temporary walking path and ADA shuttle service on game days. The new bridge adds another pedestrian link for daily workers, transit riders and fans moving between the airport side and the development.
The project is part of the larger Miami Freedom Park buildout approved by voters on November 6, 2018, when about 60% backed a 99-year lease for roughly 73 acres. The broader redevelopment is a 130-acre mixed-use project with a soccer stadium, retail, hotel, office and commercial space, plus a 58-acre public park and pedestrian cross-walks. Contaminated soils and landfill debris, including arsenic, must be remediated.
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