Bird Road
Bird Road, co-signed State Road 976 (SR 976) from the Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike (SR 821) in Westwood Lakes, Florida to U.S. Route 1 (SR 5) in Miami, is a 13.7-mile (22.0 km) main east–west road running south of downtown Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida.
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bird Road Southwest 40th Street | ||||
SR 976 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by FDOT | ||||
| Length | 13.700 mi[1] (22.048 km) SR 976 extends 8.5 mi (13.7 km) | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end |  Florida's Turnpike Extension near Kendall | |||
 SR 953 in Coral Gables US 1 in Miami | ||||
| East end | West 162nd Avenue in Miami | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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Route description
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State Road 976 begins on Bird Road at the Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike in Westwood Lakes, heading east as a primarily commercial six lane divided highway, including many strip malls on its route. It crosses State Road 985 before leaving Westwood Lakes and entering Westchester. Between SW 94th Avenue and SW 92nd Avenue, Bird Road passes by Bird Bowl, one of the few remaining bowling establishments in Miami-Dade County. Bird Road then crosses State Road 973 (Galloway Road), and borders the northern end of Tropical Park, the former site of a race track that had its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, and now a Miami-Dade County park. At the northeastern border of Tropical Park, SR 976 has an interchange with the Palmetto Expressway. At the southeast corner of its intersection of Ludlam Road, a block of vintage stores lines the road. At State Road 959, the road enters Coral Gables, with the median of the road containing spreading banyan trees, similar to the nearby Coral Way. Between State Road 959 (Red Road) and State Road 953 (LeJeune Road), the road is primarily residential, crossing a couple of golf courses. East of SR 953 and Coral Gables High School, it resumes commercial businesses, and has intersections with Ponce De Leon Boulevard, where the median disappears, and quickly heads towards its eastern terminus of US 1.[2]
East of State Road 976's eastern terminus, Bird Road becomes SE 40th Street/Bird Avenue as it traverses the Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, intersecting SW 27th Avenue and ending at Aviation Avenue one block further east.
West of State Road 976's western terminus, the road jogs slightly to the south to become SW 42nd Street, and known as Bird Road or Bird Drive, as it goes through a primarily residential area, with several businesses and strip malls scattered through. Bird Drive currently ends at SW 162nd Avenue, but more development continues to be built in this area and the road may be extended further west in the future.
History
SR 976
When FDOT added Bird Road to its list of state roads in 1980, it was originally designated State Road 930. Three years later the SR 930 signs were removed from the street and replaced with signs with the SR 976 designation.
Major intersections
The entire route is in Miami-Dade County.
| Location | mi[1] | km | Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westwood Lakes–University Park– Tamiami tripoint | 0.000 | 0.000 | West end of state maintenance | ||
| 0.130 | 0.209 |  Florida's Turnpike Extension (SR 821) – Airport | Turnpike exit 23 | ||
| 1.142 | 1.838 |  SR 985 (Southwest 107th Avenue) | |||
| Olympia Heights–Westchester line | 3.144 | 5.060 |  SR 973 (Southwest 87th Avenue / Galloway Road) | ||
| | 4.220 | 6.791 |   SR 826 / SR 874 south – Airport | Interchange | |
| Coral Gables | 6.219 | 10.009 |  SR 959 (Southwest 57th Avenue / Red Road) | ||
| 7.740 | 12.456 | SR 953 (Le Jeune Road / Southwest 42nd Avenue) | |||
| Miami | 8.466 | 13.625 | US 1 (South Dixie Highway / SR 5) – Downtown Miami | ||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
References
- Florida Department of Transportation. "Straight Line Diagrams". Florida Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on 2014-03-06. Retrieved March 2014. Check date values in:
|access-date=(help) - AOL (March 19, 2013). "Map of State Road 976" (Map). Mapquest. AOL. Retrieved March 19, 2013.
