Coral Way (street)

This article is about the road. For the neighborhood, see Coral Way (neighborhood).

Part of the scenic Coral Way in Coral Gables, between Red Road and LeJeune Road.Photo: Marc Averette

Part of the scenic Coral Way road within the Coral Way neighborhood of Miami.Photo: Marc Averette

Coral Way is a primarily east-west street that begins in the Brickell neighborhood of Downtown, Miami, Florida, United States at Brickell Avenue (U.S. Route 1), where it begins as South 13th Street (SR 972).

It is a four-lane dual direction main road in downtown Miami from Brickell Avenue until it crosses Broadway (South 15th Road) and curves to the southwest as is goes under I-95. At this point it becomes a divided road (West 3rd Avenue) with many old ficus and banyan trees in its median. This is where the historic scenic drive of Coral Way begins. There is a sign marking this.

It continues southwest as West Third Avenue until it reaches the intersection at West 12th Avenue. There it curves due west and becomes South 22nd Street.

It continues west through the city of Miami until it crosses Douglas Road (West 37th Avenue) and enters the city of Coral Gables. This is the western terminus of SR 972.

For half a mile (between Douglas Road and LeJeune Road (West 42nd Avenue) it is the major east-west road through downtown Coral Gables and is known also as Miracle Mile. It is still divided by a median, although along this stretch the median has large date palm trees and flower beds.

After crossing LeJeune Road (West 42nd Avenue), it is one-way westbound for two blocks until crossing Segovia Street, where it is again two-way, but it is a 2-lane street without a median.

After crossing Segovia Street, it borders the Granada Golf Course for two blocks until it enters a residential area after crossing South Greenway Drive/Anderson Road. From this point west it is covered by large oak, mahogany and other hardwood trees which form a natural canopy from each side of the road.

It continues west through the city of Coral Gables with its natural tree canopy until it crosses Red Road (West 57th Avenue) and emerges into unincorporated Miami-Dade County as Coral Way and South 24th Street. At this point it becomes a four-lane roadway again.

It continues west as South 24th Street through Miami-Dade County until a short distance after crossing the Florida Turnpike (after West 117th Avenue) where it curves slightly farther south and becomes Southwest 26th Street.

It continues west through Miami-Dade County as South 26th Street until its western terminus at West 157th Avenue.

History

The Coral Way Corridor was built in 1922, connecting the city of Miami to Coral Gables with citrus lined streets. A few years later streetcar tracks were laid down the middle. In 1929, a roadside beautification program was started and 1,200 non-native banyan trees were planted along it.^[1]

References

1. ^ City of Miami-Neighborhood Enhancement Teams

Coordinates: 25°44′55.27″N 80°16′44.81″W / 25.7486861°N 80.2791139°W / 25.7486861; -80.2791139