FIU wins $11M transportation grant

A Florida International University-ledpublic-private partnership has won a $11.4 million federal transportation improvements grant.

The grant, from the U.S. Department of Transportation through the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program, is aimed to improve connectivity among its western campus, the city of Sweetwater and other parts of the county. The entire $124 million project, dubbed UniversityCity, would link the Modesto A. Maidique Campus to bus rapid transit (BRT), Miami International Airport and other key parts of the county.

Work will start soon on a pedestrian bridge across Southwest Eighth Street and streetscape enhancements along Southwest 109th Avenue. In addition, IBM-designed software would help drivers find available parking spaces in FIU garages.

“UniversityCity will be one of the most tangible, meaningful solutions we help provide for South Floridians because it involves improved transportation, jobs and economic development,” FIU PresidentMark B. Rosenberg said in a news release.

FIU’s partners include Sweetwater, the Miami-Dade County Transportation Authority, the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority, the Florida Department of Transportation, IBM and T.Y. Lin International.

“Thanks to this TIGER funding, FIU students will be able to walk from their student housing to class through a pedestrian bridge across Southwest Eighth Street,” said U.S. Rep.Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Pembroke Pines. “The innovative technological upgrades to the FIU garage will make it easier to find parking and check the BRT schedule. More jobs will be created in our community thanks to this grant, and I look forward to celebrating the project’s success with everyone in South Florida.”