Commissioner Diaz helps break ground on transit terminal that will bring express bus service to the Dolphin Expressway

Miami-Dade County Commissioner Jose "Pepe" Diaz, center, joins County Mayor Carlos Gimenez, second from right, and other elected officials at the groundbreaking for the Dolphin Station Park and Ride.
(Photos by Armando Rodriguez / Miami-Dade County)

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY – West Dade commuters can look forward to express bus service on the Dolphin Expressway (State Road 836) thanks to a new park-and-ride facility that just broke ground alongside the expressway on Northwest 12th Street.

The Dolphin Station Park and Ride Transit Terminal Facility will serve as a transit hub for a number of bus routes including a planned express route and will feature 12 bus bays, nearly 900 parking spaces, air conditioned passenger waiting areas and retail space. Construction is scheduled to be completed in December 2017.

“The Dolphin Station Park and Ride will serve as a major transit hub for West Dade commuters who will be able to get to work more quickly using a convenient express bus route, and could also serve as a transit station for future East-West Corridor commuter rail service utilizing the CSX rail line,” said Miami-Dade County Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz, who attended the facility’s Jan. 23 groundbreaking.

The project has been a major priority for Commissioner Diaz, who sponsored a 2014 report on the creation of a Dolphin Expressway express bus route to downtown Miami, as well as a 2015 agreement establishing a multi-agency partnership between the Miami-Dade County Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTPW), the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority (MDX), and the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to create the Dolphin Station Park and Ride. Miami-Dade County asked MDX to fast-track the planning, design and construction of the facility, and FDOT funded the planning and design development of the facility and is sharing the approximately $16.9 million construction cost with DTPW.

Commissioner Diaz speaks at the Dolphin Station Park and Ride groundbreaking.