Ocean Drive, Causeway Closures On Miami Beach For Spring Break
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MIAMI BEACH (CBSMiami) – Miami Beach Police are preparing for some of their largest crowds yet.
Every year thousands of college students visit Miami Beach during their Spring Break to bask in the sun on its sandy beaches, party the night away in it clubs, and generally just have a good time.
In an effort to manage the vacation rush and keep people safe, they are putting several road closures in place this weekend and next weekend.
Ocean Drive between 5th and 12th streets was closed at noon on Friday to traffic and will remain that way until 3 a.m. Monday.
The Julia Tuttle and MacArthur Causeways will only have two moving lanes of traffic headed east.
That starts on Friday night at 9 p.m. and lasts until Saturday at 5 a.m. The closures will occur again on Sunday starting at 4 p.m. and go to 5 a.m. on Monday
"We ask our residents to use the Venetian Causeway, or even the 79th Street Causeway. Plan ahead," says Officer Ernesto Rodriguez with Miami Beach Police.
All of these closures will repeat next weekend.
On top of all this, the Miami Dade Expressway Authority says there will be a complete closure of all lanes north and southbound on 57th Avenue, between Perimeter Road and Blue Lagoon drive. That's for the diverging diamond interchange project. It starts Friday at 11 p.m. until 5 a.m. Monday.
In addition, Officer Rodriguez says they will be using license plate technology to monitor every car headed to Miami Beach.
"Read each of those tags and ensure everyone who is coming to Miami Beach this weekend is here for the right reasons, aren't in stolen vehicles, and aren't wanted subjects."
If you prefer traveling on two wheels Miami Beach Police has a new policy to prevent reckless riders. Now, each scooter people rent is marked by a series of letters and numbers.
"We have a 24-hour number we can call. It notifies the rental company and once that scooter is parked, it shuts it off and disables it, and the person is no longer able to utilize the scooter," Rodriguez explained.
In addition to the lane closures, the city is limiting which streets visitors can use and are permitting access only to residents and those patrons, and employees, of businesses located in the specific area where traffic routes have been limited.