Design Workshop for River of Grass Greenway

Upcoming Meeting Announced at FIU Modesto Maidique Campus

Miami-Dade community members, stakeholders, residents and visitors are invited to help begin to create the framework plan for the proposed River of Grass Greenway (ROGG), a 75-mile multi-use, non-motorized, paved pathway across the Florida Everglades, between Miami and Naples. What elements should be included? How should we meet the needs of various path users? Where should the pathway be located?

The ROGG design team is seeking to answer these questions and more at this free community workshop:

March 12 - March 16
ROGG East Community Workshop (Collier County Line to Krome Avenue)
Florida International University's Modesto A. Maidique Campus
PCA - College of Architecture and the Arts / Landscape Architecture Department
11200 SW 8th St., Miami, FL 33199

The workshop is a collaborative session in which a team of designers and stakeholders craft a solution to a design challenge. This event will be the third and final five-day regional community workshop that is being held to allow for broad-based citizen participation. Residents, stakeholders, and interested parties are encouraged to attend the workshop as much as they are willing or able during open hours, and may come and go as they please during posted dates and times. The ROGG East workshop will follow the same format as the other two recent five-day workshops: It will include a public kick-off and briefing on Tuesday from 6-8 p.m. in PCA 135 (Auditorium) open working sessions Wednesday and Thursday from 1-8 p.m. in PCA 341 (Reading/Conference Room), a closed work session for the consultant team on Friday and an open house on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in PCA 135. There will be multiple opportunities for stakeholder interviews and discussions with Consultant Team and Project Team, mapping exercises and information gathering, and plan presentations. During this workshop, the Consultant Team will study a specific geographic region of the project corridor, solicit the input of citizens and stakeholders, and after gathering information, will flesh out specific design strategies. The workshop is an intensive hands-on event that brings people from different disciplines and backgrounds together to explore design options. The Miami-Dade County Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department in partnership with the National Park Service (Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program), the Naples Pathways Coalition and multiple cities and agencies across south Florida are collaborating on a Feasibility Study and Master Plan for the ROGG. The Greenway will provide a recreational and alternative transportation corridor for cycling, walking, wildlife viewing and experiencing the natural beauty of the Everglades like never before. According to Miami-Dade County Parks Deputy Director George Navarrete, workshops establish a platform for a free flow of information and opinion sharing. Its primary role is to provide a forum for building community consensus on a vision for the community's future through active involvement and visualization-bringing the vision to life Members of the Consultant Team, led by AECOM, a national leader in parks and recreation master planning and design, include: Alta Planning and Design, a national leader in sustainable transportation and recreation and innovation, and Nelson Nygaard, a national transportation planning firm with an emphasis on sustainability. In addition to the three workshops, a comprehensive community engagement website for the project is available for public interaction and feedback at: www.RiverofGrassGreenway.org . The website invites contributors to learn more about the ROGG project, share new ideas, upload photos, expand upon existing ideas, and give feedback on initiatives on a variety of topics related to the project online anytime, anywhere. Feedback from this website will be used by the project sponsors, first to review research done ahead of the project, and to generate feedback on plans. Contribute today and help create a better community by going online! This project is funded through a Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks grant to the National Park Service (NPS) and is managed by Miami-Dade County Parks Recreation and Open Spaces Department through a cooperative agreement with NPS.

About the Miami-Dade County Parks, Recreation & Open Spaces Department:
Nationally accredited, a three-time winner of the NRPA National Gold Medal Award and winner of the 2009 Florida Governor's Sterling Award for excellence in management and operations, Miami-Dade County Parks is the third largest county park system in the United States, consisting of 260 parks and 12,825 acres of land. It is one of the most unique park and recreation systems in the world. Made up of more than just playgrounds and athletic fields, it also comprises out-of-school, sports-development, and summer-camp programs; programs for seniors and people with disabilities; educational nature centers and nature preserves; environmental restoration efforts; arts and culture programs and events; the renowned Zoo Miami and the Deering Estate at Cutler; the Crandon Tennis Center, home of the Sony Open; golf courses; beaches; marinas; campgrounds; pools; and more. For information about Miami-Dade County Parks call 3-1-1, or visit www.miamidade.gov/parks/ .

Miami-Dade County Parks is supported by The Parks Foundation of Miami-Dade a non-profit 501(c)3 organization supporting the Miami-Dade County Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department's efforts to further develop Miami-Dade County's world-class parks system for residents and visitors. Its mission is to create a healthier, more livable and sustainable Miami community by ensuring the implementation of the Parks Open Space Master Plan and the development of year-round park and recreation programs for local children, adults and people with disabilities. For more information on the Parks Foundation, please visit www.miamidade.gov/parks_foundation . To request material in accessible format, information on access for persons with disabilities, or sign language interpreter services (7 days in advance), call (305) 755-7848.