Government Center station (Miami) explained

Style:Miami-Dade Transit
Government Center
Type:Metrorail metro station
Metromover people mover station
Address:101 NW 1st Street (Metrorail)
138 NW 3rd Street (Metromover)
Borough:Miami, Florida
Coordinates:25.7758°N -80.1958°W
Connections:
Structure:Elevated
Levels:4
Accessible:Yes
Code:GVT
Owned:Miami-Dade County
Passengers:3.2 million[1] (Metrorail)
Pass Year:2011
Pass Percent:3
Other Services Header:Former services
Other Services Collapsible:yes
Mapframe:yes
Mapframe-Custom:
Shape:none
Line:none
Marker:rail-metro
Marker-Color:
  1. 000
Zoom:15

Government Center station is an intermodal transit hub in the Government Center district of Downtown Miami, Florida. It is operated by Miami-Dade Transit and serves as a transfer station for the Metrorail and Metromover rapid transit systems and as a bus station for Metrobus, Paratransit, and Broward County Transit buses. MiamiCentral is directly connected via a pedestrian bridge over NW 3rd Street. The station is located near the intersection of Northwest First Street and First Avenue, a part of the Stephen P. Clark Government Center Building. It opened to service May 20, 1984, next to the site of a former FEC railway station which is now MiamiCentral.

History

Metrorail and Metromover station

Development of the civic center was reinvigorated during the 1970s and early 1980s during a Downtown building boom. The boom spurred the development and construction of the Stephen P. Clark Government Center, Metrorail, Metromover, and the Miami-Dade Cultural Plaza, which currently includes HistoryMiami and the Miami-Dade Public Library System Main Library.

Construction on the present-day Government Center station began in June 1982. The station was primarily designed by the Cambridge Seven Associates in collaboration with Edward D. Stone. The station was built by the Frank J. Rooney Construction Company. Metrorail service, between Overtown and Kendall, following the precise route of the FEC, commenced service May 1984.

An unused, partially completed ghost platform for a future East-West Metrorail line is adjacent to the west side of the mezzanine level below the current Metrorail station and is easily visible to passengers transferring from Metromover to Metrorail. This platform was part of the original design concept which interfaced with the atrium of the Miami-Dade County Administration Building, and the people mover station.

Florida East Coast Railroad station

See main article: MiamiCentral. Next to Government Center station is the former site of a railroad station developed in April 1896 as the southern terminus of Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway (FEC). The downtown passenger terminal was demolished by November 1963.[2] The FEC still owns the old station site, which was occupied by parking lots until 2014. It is now MiamiCentral, an intermodal transit hub. It has been served by Brightline higher-speed inter-city trains since 2018, and served by Tri-Rail commuter trains since 2024.

Station layout

The second floor of the complex includes the main fare control for Metrorail and platforms for the Metromover loops, as well as the Metrofare Shops area. The third floor of the complex is a mezzanine for transfers between the two services. A ghost platform for a never-built east-west Metrorail line is located on this level. The fourth floor of the complex is the Metrorail platform. It is the highest transit platform of the Miami-Dade Transit system in height and can hold up to eight Metrorail cars.

Transit connections

Metrobus

Route #Route NameRoute MapNote
2The Mall at 163rd Street via NW 2 Ave and North Miami AvenueMap
3Aventura Mall via Biscayne BoulevardMap24-hour service
7Dolphin Mall via NW 7 StMap
7AMiami Airport Station via NW 7 ST/ NW 42nd AVEMap
9Aventura Mall via NE 2 AveMap
11Downtown MiamiFlorida International University (FIU) Modesto Maidique Campus via Flagler Street and West 107 Ave (SR 985)Map24-hour service; alternate terminus at Midway Crossings
21Northside station via West 12 AveMap
51Flagler MAX (Downtown Miami ↔ West Miami via Flagler St)MapWeekdays only; limited-stop
77Downtown Miami ↔ Miami Gardens at Miami Gardens Drive/North 183 St or 199 St via NW 7 and NW 2 Ave. (US 441)Map
93Biscayne MAX (Aventura via Biscayne Boulevard)MapWeekdays only; limited-stop
9595 Express (Golden Glades Tri-Rail station and Park and Ride Lot via I-95)MapAfternoon rush hours only
S (119)Aventura Mall via Miami Beach and Collins AvenueMap24-hour service
120Beach MAX (Aventura Mall via Miami Beach and Collins Ave)MapLimited-stop
207Little Havana Connection (Downtown Miami ↔ Little Havana via SW 7 St & 1 St)Map
208Little Havana Connection (Downtown Miami ↔ Little Havana via Flagler Street & SW 8 St)Map
246Night Owl (Downtown Miami ↔ The Mall at 163rd St via Health District)MapOvernight only
277NW 7th Ave MAX (Downtown Miami ↔ Golden Glades station via NW 7 Ave)MapWeekday rush hour only; limited-stop
400South OWL (Downtown Miami ↔ Dadeland South station)MapOvernight only
401North OWL (Downtown Miami ↔ 163 St Mall Terminal)MapOvernight only
836Express (Downtown Miami ↔ Dolphin Station Park and Ride)MapWeekday rush hour only; limited-stop
837Express (Downtown Miami ↔ Tamiami Station Park and Ride)MapWeekday rush hour only; limited-stop

Broward County Transit

Route #Route NameRoute MapNote
10995 Express (Downtown Miami ↔ Pines Boulevard (SR 820) at Flamingo Road (SR 823) via I-95 and Pines Blvd)MapWeekday rush hour only; limited-stop
110595 Express (Sunrise BB&T Center ↔ Downtown Miami and Brickell via I-95)MapWeekday rush hour only; limited stop

Miami Trolley

Places of interest

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.miamidade.gov/transit/news_technical_reports_archive.asp{{dead link|date=March 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
  2. News: Ward Allan . Howe . THE FLORIDA RUN: Railroads Anticipating a Busy Winter—New Schedule Effective Dec. 13 . . Nov 3, 1963 . XX13 . 2011-03-29.