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Project will create more than 500 jobs, support Miami-Dade small businesses, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Miami-Dade County, FL -- Construction company Odebrecht and joint venture partner Parsons broke ground today on the MIA Mover, an automated people mover (APM) that will link Miami International Airport (MIA) with the Miami Intermodal Center (MIC). The project will enhance sustainability at the airport and surrounding areas by creating more than 500 jobs, supporting small- and medium-sized businesses and significantly reducing current greenhouse gas emissions in and around the airport. Construction is slated for completion in 2011.
“We are proud to be given the task of building a project that will further improve Miami-Dade’s infrastructure, help boost the economy by creating jobs, support small businesses and contribute to decongesting traffic at the airport, all of which contribute to a sustainable community”, says Gilberto Neves, Odebrecht’s CEO in the US. Parsons-Odebrecht has committed more than $34 million to hiring small- and medium-sized subcontractors and consultants for the MIA Mover project.
As with other MIA projects, construction of the MIA Mover will not involve Miami-Dade County tax funds but will be paid using revenues from airport operations, airline fees and state funding. The total cost of the construction contract is $259 million, with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) providing $100 million and the balance funded by bond revenue from the Miami-Dade Aviation Department’s Capital Improvement Program. By using the same cutting-edge Crystal Mover vehicle technology employed at a companion APM being installed atop MIA’s new North Terminal, the airport will derive substantial savings through the use of shared maintenance and operational staff. The MIA North Terminal project is currently being built by Parsons-Odebrecht, which also built the airport’s South Terminal.
Passengers will ride the 1.27-mile MIA Mover free of charge between MIA and the MIC’s Rental Car Center (RCC). The MIA Station will be located between the airport’s Dolphin and Flamingo Parking Garages, while the MIC Station will be located on the fourth level of the RCC. Upon completion of Phase 1 of Metrorail’s new Orange Line (MIC Earlington Heights Connector), passengers will be able to access the adjoining Miami Central Station (MCS), a major transportation hub that will include a bus depot for public and private bus services; a rail hub for Tri-Rail, Metrorail and Amtrak; and access to taxis and other vehicles. Odebrecht, through another joint venture, was awarded the contract to build the Metrorail line to the MCS.
The MIA Mover, projected to transport 48,000 visitors each day by 2020, will eliminate the need for more than a half-million shuttle bus trips to off-site car rental lots each year, substantially reducing traffic at the airport’s lower level and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from airport bus traffic.
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