Photo: The Underline promises to make areas like this under the South Miami Metrorail Station more friendly to cyclists and pedestrians. 

Meg Daly is an entrepreneur and founder of Friends of The Underline. Knight Foundation provided seed funding for the project and is supporting the master planning process.

Thanks to widespread community support, The Underline is moving forward at breakneck speed to transform land below Miami’s Metrorail into a 10-mile linear park and urban trail. Now, with a new matching grant from Knight Foundation the master planning process is well underway.

In March James Corner Field Operations received the commission for the design. They are noted for helping nature to prevail in an urban setting—from New York’s High Line to Tongva Park in Santa Monica, Calif. Here, they hope to complete the master plan in less than six months.

Ideas from the public are an essential part of the design they are putting together; from the start, public outreach has been a fundamental part of the work. Last September we had a two-month exhibit at HistoryMiami where people could post wall notes on what they wanted on the future Underline. In January, in partnership with Miami-Dade County and the Dutch Embassy, we presented a four-day conference called ThinkBike, where Dutch and local experts tackled the opportunities and challenges of the future Underline.  On Feb. 14, we kicked off our Miami Foundation Public Space Challenge by lighting up Metrorail next to Vizcaya station. People got a glimpse of how lighting creates an outdoor living room from the darkness.  

We also encouraged people to experience the future Underline in fun ways. In March, we held a bike ride along the current M-Path with activities and events at four Metrorail stations. We opened a two-month interactive exhibit at Coral Gables Museum, which featured a virtual bike ride, surveys for visitor input, coloring tables for kids, and even a transportation timeline showing that Miami’s early residents had a tradition of biking and public transportation. 

In April, we held public meetings to collect more input. In total, more than 600 people have completed our survey, online and at events. Here’s what we learned.

You told us you want two trails, one for pedestrians and one for bicyclists. You said that you want us to use native vegetation that doesn’t require expensive maintenance. You told us you want lighting, seating and public art. You said you would like a barrier from U.S. 1 but it should be a wall of plants not a concrete. You told us that we need to fix the intersections along the corridor so you can get across the street safely. We heard you and the design team is weaving your ideas into the fabric of The Underline. 

But we’re not done collecting feedback. We hope you will attend our next set of public meetings at 6 p.m. on June 23 and June 25 at Vizcaya Garage and Temple Judea. James Corner Field Operations will share its early design proposals and you’ll get to comment on what you see.

As improbable as it may seem, we have our sights on beginning construction of The Underline in 2016. We are trying to lock down state, county, municipal and private dollars to do just that. 

We also are partners in an amazing initiative this fall called WHEELS 2015. The goal of WHEELS is for 10,000 participants to leave their cars at home for five days in November and use only their bikes and public transit. For this event, we hope to have demonstration projects at Brickell and University of Miami Metrorail stations that will showcase The Underline design in a cost-effective, “you-get-the-idea” way. 

Yes, we have a lot to accomplish: We have undertaken an all-volunteer audit of every tree along the 10-mile corridor; we need construction documents, permits and, of course, Federal Transit Administration approval and lots more, but as Robert Browning so aptly said, “A man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s heaven for?”

The next public meetings of The Underline will be held at 6 p.m. on June 23 and 25 at Vizcaya Garage and Temple Judea. RSVP on Eventbrite: June 23 meeting; June 25 meeting. Visit theunderline.org and follow us on Twitter @theunderlinemia to join the fun.