If you’ve ever tried driving from Brickell to Downtown Miami for work, lunch or a meeting, you know the gamble. Most Miamians dread the thought of such a risky drive for fear of getting caught at the Brickell Avenue Bridge. One of Miami’s busiest drawbridges, it links Brickell to Downtown by connecting Brickell Avenue to Northeast 2nd Avenue. When it rises, so does frustration.

The Brickell Bridge spans the busy Miami River, opening on the hour and half-hour (during non-curfew time) to allow both pleasure boats and maritime traffic to pass. For anyone navigating between Brickell and Downtown, these frequent openings can be a headache, especially as both neighborhoods keep on growing.

So What’s the Problem with the Brickell Bridge? Let’s Investigate!

Brickell is considered one of Miami’s hottest neighborhoods today. The “Manhattan of the South” is the city’s financial core and a highly desirable residential area, as well as a go-to destination for dining and nightlife. For many, travel between Brickell and Downtown Miami is simply part of daily life. 

But every time the bridge opens, it ends up turning these two neighborhoods into a parking lot. And with each new development cycle—including the current one—Brickell and Downtown Miami have seen continued growth in residents, office workers, and visitors, leading to even more cars, pedestrians, and cyclists.

This is why every couple of years the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) faces requests to limit bridge openings during peak traffic hours or expand curfew windows.

However, listen to the marine industry’s (Coast Guard or Marine-dependent facilities’) side of the story and you know how important the river route is for commerce and trade with the Caribbean.

The working Miami River supports a multibillion-dollar marine industry benefiting cargo ships, sports fishermen, tugs, and pleasure craft owners alike. And for many businesses that rely on this access, keeping the channel open is essential.

The challenge comes when an increasing number of recreational vessels take advantage of these rights, forcing the Brickell Bridge to open more frequently—and escalating the traffic backups on land.

Brickell Bridge Schedule Today

On weekdays, the Brickell Bridge opening schedule operates regularly from 7am to 7pm, Monday to Friday, except for Federal holidays.

During these times, it opens every half hour (on the hour and half-hour, for example, at 10:00 and 10:30 a.m). Outside of those hours, it opens on demand, or “on signal.”

However, in an effort to ease rush hour traffic, it has the following curfew periods, when it does not have to open to boat traffic:

• 7:35 to 8:59 AM (Morning Rush Hour)
• 12:05 to 12:59 PM (Lunch Hour)
• 4:35 to 5:59 PM (Evening Rush Hour)

Only certain vessels are allowed to pass during curfew hours, such as tugboats, government boats, and vessels facing emergencies. The Brickell Bridge curfew hours are applicable on all weekdays, but are suspended on Federal holidays. 

While these curfews help manage traffic, bridge openings still regularly delay drivers for more than 30 minutes, creating heavy congestion in some of Miami’s most densely populated neighborhoods. And these areas continue to grow.

At times, when scheduled construction occurs, the bridge is closed, though there are no Brickell Bridge closures currently planned.

Brickell Avenue Bridge – A Timeline

Birdseye view Royal Palm, Biscayne Bay and Brickell Point, Miami, Florida, circa 1900.

1929: The original two-lane Brickell Bridge is built, standing 16 feet above water with two lanes connecting Downtown.

1980s: Frequent complaints about bridge openings begin to fuel calls for an upgraded structure.

1995: The new Brickell Avenue Bridge opens, taller at 24 feet and wider with five lanes (a sixth was added later).

1999: As Brickell and Downtown get busier, poorly coordinated openings worsen traffic. Plans surface to lower the river bed.

2006: A sixth northbound lane is added to reduce traffic; post‑expansion, the bridge carries three lanes each direction plus pedestrian walkways.

2008: The Miami River is dredged for $89 million to a uniform depth of 15 feet from, up from the previous inconsistent range of 9 to 11 feet.

2009–Present: A major condo and business boom has kept demand for a permanent solution. No new bridge additions have occurred, though experts and residents continue urging long-term infrastructure changes.

Proposed Solutions for Brickell Avenue Bridge Traffic

Over the years, a long list of solutions have been proposed to solve the gridlock caused by the Brickell Avenue Bridge. Which of these are truly practical and which aren’t is still up for debate.

Signal Update: One of the latest efforts to ease the traffic bottleneck caused by the Brickell drawbridge came in 2024, when the Miami-Dade County Traffic Signs and Signals Division executed a major signal retiming plan. The updates targeted key intersections along Brickell Avenue, including the one on Eighth Street and Brickell Avenue, Fifth Street, and the bridge.

Although the coordinated effort has worked as an interim solution to improve traffic flow and relieve congestion, a more concrete solution is still awaited.

Build a Tunnel: Citing the success of the PortMiami tunnel, many (including the Miami River Marine Group) have suggested building a tunnel to ease the load off Brickell Avenue Bridge.

However, a billion-dollar construction bill is the biggest roadblock to implementing this idea.

Elon Musk’s Electric Car Tunnel: In 2021, Elon Musk’s Boring Company proposed an underground transit tunnel in Miami, designed to shuttle passengers in electric (read Tesla) vehicles. The $30 million concept quickly gained traction and was even presented to Mayor Francis Suarez.

However, after several rounds of discussions in 2022 and disappointing test results from the launch of a similar tunnel system in Las Vegas, momentum began to fade. By 2023, the project fell into silence.

Industry experts in South Florida also pointed to major engineering challenges (including Miami’s porous limestone bedrock and vulnerability to hurricanes) as key obstacles to its implementation, further pushing the idea off the table.

All Lanes Open: In 2018, Mr. Horacio Stuart Aguirre, Chairman of the Miami River Commission, raised concerns that 66% of the travel lanes surrounding the Brickell Avenue Bridge were blocked due to overlapping construction projects, including plumbing infrastructure work, new building construction, and streetscape renovations.

While minimizing the number of construction projects around town to keep more lanes free could help relieve general traffic, it wouldn’t directly address the congestion caused by bridge openings.

Curfew Extension: FDOT has repeatedly suggested extending curfew hours by 30 minutes in the morning and evening to ease traffic congestion.

However, the Coast Guard shot down the idea in June 2017, releasing a study that said the extension would have little to no effect on the traffic situation and would rather increase the amount of time the bridge had to be raised for backed-up marine traffic.

Federal law also requires the bridge to open on demand for vessels owned by the government, tugboats, tugs with tows, and any craft in distress, even during curfew.

The DDA & FDOT Plan: After the curfew extension was rejected, the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) and FDOT collaborated on an 11-point plan back in 2017 to deal with the congestion.

Proposed measures included stricter enforcement of curfew rules through camera monitoring of bridge tender logs, automating handwritten records, installing pedestrian gates to prevent delays, adding smart signage to warn drivers and boaters of upcoming bridge openings, and better synchronizing nearby traffic lights.

Although a few of the proposed measures have been put into place, none have yet made a substantial impact on overall traffic congestion.

Skip the Bridge?: While not always a truly feasible option (we know how bad I-95 traffic can get), sometimes during off hours rerouting via I-95 to avoid the bridge altogether may be a solution. While this is not a permanent fix, it can be an alternative to getting from Downtown to Brickell and vice versa.

Frequently Asked Questions 

What time does the Brickell Bridge go up?

On weekdays, Monday-Friday, the Brickell Bridge is scheduled to go up every half hour, except for about for rush hour curfews as outlined above. On weekends and for certain emergencies, it goes up on signal. (Disclaimer: these regulations do not apply on Federal holidays, and the bridge can be opened during rush hour curfews for certain types of vessels.) 

Can you walk across the Brickell Bridge?

There are many pedestrians and cycles who walk and bike across the Brickell Bridge at all times. Because the Whole Foods grocery store is just over the Brickell Bridge, there is a lot of pedestrian traffic.

Although there are pedestrian pathways on both sides of the bridge, there is no separate lane for cyclists – so riders will either need to share the road with vehicles or walk with their bike.

Further, if you’re planning a walk or ride, it’s best to avoid the top and half of the hour when the bridge typically opens to let marine traffic through.

How high is Brickell Bridge?

The Brickell Avenue Bridge has a vertical clearance of 23 feet at its center. This clearance is large enough for mid-sized vessels and some larger boats to pass underneath comfortably – often without having to open it.

Watch this space for more updates on the Brickell Bridge and possible solutions to solve the city’s traffic problems. 

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