Florida State Road 976

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State Road 976

Length:

8.3 mi (13.36 km)

East end:

US 1 in Coral Gables

Major
junctions:

SR 826 near Westchester

West end:

SR 821 near Kendale Lakes

Florida State and County Roads
< SR 973		SR 985 >

State Road 976, locally known as Bird Road, is a commercially important route extending westward from U.S. Route 1 (SR 5) in Miami to the Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike (SR 821) in Kendale Lakes, Florida. Its length is a subject for debate as there is no definitive indication as to the exact location of its western terminus and there is no SR 976 signage east of Southwest 37th Avenue (Douglas Road) in Miami. According to the Florida Department of Transportation, the length is approximately eight miles.

With small pockets of exceptions (and also excluding the section between Red Road and LeJeune Road in Coral Gables), State Road 976 is exclusively commercial, from the various strip malls, to a block of vintage stores, to Bird Bowl, one of the few remaining bowling establishments in Miami-Dade County.

Tropical Park, also along Bird Road, is the former site of a race track that had its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s. It is now a Miami-Dade County park.

In Coral Gables, the median of SR 976/Bird Road contains spreading banyan trees, most notably near Coral Gables High School near SR 953. The nearby Coral Way in Miami (SR 972) has similarly decorated street medians that predate this.

Bird Road has several designations beyond that of the state highway. In the neighborhood of the city of Miami known as Coconut Grove, it is named Bird Avenue and is also known as Southwest 30th Street. West of Coral Gables it is also known as Southwest 40th Street, which continues westward past the Turnpike until a gentle chicane, whereupon it becomes Bird Drive, also known as Southwest 42nd Street. The section west of the Turnpike is primarily residential, although there are a few strip malls, other small stores, and fast food places. Bird Drive currently ends at Southwest 157th Avenue, but more homes continue to be built in this area and the road may be extended further west in the future.

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.