Miami’s Underline Linear Park Offers Recreation, Transportation, Conservation

A 10-mile trail and linear park in Miami, set for completion in 2026, will feature bioswales for stormwater retention, hydration and bike repair stations, free WiFi, and more, reports Ysabelle Kempe in Smart Cities Dive. 

The Underline, as it’s known, runs beneath the elevated transit tracks of the Miami Metrorail. According to Friends of The Underline CEO Patrice Gillespie Smith, “What I really admire about The Underline and what Meg [Daly], our founder, did is instead of trying to put it all on a road in quite an auto-centric community, she identified an underutilized space and said this is where our multimodal trail can go but also [be] a linear park.”

Smith adds, “It is first and foremost a transportation corridor. In most cases on the multimodal trail, the biking element is separated from the pedestrian element.” The project includes amenity areas such as a 50-foot “dining room table” designed for people to gather with friends and neighbors.

Smith says the project is also key to managing extreme storm events. “The bioswales are going to make sure that the water slows down, is cleaned and is able to return to the aquifer purified. The aquifer is our drinking source, so it’s very important.”