MIAMI GARDENS, FLA. (WSVN) - A ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the opening of the Hard Rock Stadium Pedestrian Bridges in Miami Gardens.
City of Miami Gardens, Hard Rock Stadium and Florida Department of Transportation officials held the event Friday morning.
The pedestrian bridges now hang over Northwest 199th Street on the south side of the stadium and over the Florida’s Turnpike exit ramp on the east side of the stadium.
The $15 million project also includes two tunnels under Don Shula Drive that are designed to help lessen the flow of walking attendees on the ground level.
“It makes them safer,” said Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert. “It allows us to empty the stadium sooner and quicker, and it’s just important. It’s how you incorporate a stadium and large events into an actual city where people live and live their lives.“
The completion of the project comes less than a month before this year’s Super Bowl is held at the stadium.
“The eyes of the world will be here on Miami and Miami Gardens, and this is a great new addition to this great, fantastic venue,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez.
Construction for the project began in January of 2019 and about a year later the community will be able to see how much of a difference the additions make.
“There was really a true sense of community in how we got this done because it took the city, the state, it took the Dolphins — it really took us all,” said Gilbert. “We did it for the community.”
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