Bird Road

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Bird Road
Florida 976.svg
Bird Avenue
Bird Road at US 1.jpg
Maintained by FDOT
Length 13.6 mi[1] (21.9 km)
Location Miami-Dade
West end West 162nd Avenue near Miami
Major
junctions
Homestead Ext / SR 821 in Westwood Lakes
SR 985 in Westwood Lakes
SR 973 near Westchester
SR 826 near Westchester
Ludlam Road in Miami
SR 959 in Coral Gables
SR 953 in Coral Gables
US 1 / SR 5 in Coral Gables
East end SR 9 in Coconut Grove, Miami
Construction
Inauguration 1920 (1920)
1980 (as SR 976)

Bird Road, co-signed State Road 976 from the Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike (SR 821) in Westwood Lakes, Florida to U.S. Route 1 (SR 5) in Miami, is a 13.6-mile (21.9 km) main east-west road running south of downtown Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Contents

Route description [edit]

State Road 976 begins on Bird Road at the Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike in Westwood Lakes, heading east as a primarily commercial six lane divided highway, including many strip malls on it's route. It crosses State Road 985 before leaving Westwood Lakes and entering Westchester. Between SW 94th Avenue and SW 92nd Avenue, Bird Road passes by Bird Bowl, one of the few remaining bowling establishments in Miami-Dade County. Bird Road then crosses State Road 973 (Galloway Road), and borders the northern end of Tropical Park, the former site of a race track that had its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, and now a Miami-Dade County park. At the northeastern border of Tropical Park, SR 976 has an interchange with the Palmetto Expressway. At the southeast corner of its intersection of Ludlam Road, a block of vintage stores lines the road. At State Road 959, the road enters Coral Gables, with the median of the road containing spreading banyan trees, similar to the nearby Coral Way. Between State Road 959 (Red Road) and State Road 953 (LeJeune Road), the road is primarily residential, crossing a couple of golf courses. East of SR 953 and Coral Gables High School, it resumes commercial businesses, and has intersections with Ponce De Leon Boulevard, where the median disappears, and quickly heads towards its eastern terminus of US 1.[2]

East of State Road 976's eastern terminus, Bird Road becomes SE 30th Street/Bird Avenue as it traverses the Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, intersecting SW 27th Avenue and ending at Aviation Avenue one block further east.

West of State Road 976's western terminus, the road jogs slightly to the south to become SW 42nd Street, and known as Bird Road or Bird Drive, as it goes through a primarily residential area, with several businesses and strip malls scattered through. Bird Drive currently ends at West 162nd Avenue, but more development continues to be built in this area and the road may be extended further west in the future.

History [edit]

SR 976 [edit]

When FDOT added Bird Road to its list of state roads in 1980, it was originally designated State Road 930. Three years later the SR 930 signs were removed from the street and replaced with signs with the SR 976 designation.

Major intersections [edit]

SR 976 section [edit]

The entire route is in Miami-Dade County.

Location Mile[1] km Destinations Notes
Westwood Lakes 0.000 0.000 Homestead Ext / SR 821 Exit 23 (Turnpike)
1.142 1.838 SR 985 (SW 107th Avenue)
Westchester 3.144 5.060 SR 973 (SW 87th Avenue)
4.166–
4.266
6.705–
6.865
SR 826 (Palmetto Expressway) Interchange
Coral Gables 6.219 10.009 SR 959 (SW 57th Avenue)
7.740 12.456 SR 953 (Le Jeune Road)
8.466 13.625 US 1 / SR 5 (South Dixie Highway)
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References [edit]

Route map: Google / Bing

  1. ^ a b "Straight-Line Diagrams". Florida Department of Transportation. Retrieved July 24, 2012. 
  2. ^ MapQuest, Inc. (2009). Map of Florida State Road 976 (Map). http://mapq.st/Wj4V0q. Retrieved 2013-03-19.