Government Center station (Miami)

Government Center
Metrorail metro station Metromover people mover station
Government Center station is located at the base of the Stephen P. Clark Government Center building
Location	Metrorail: 101 NW First Street Miami, Florida 33128 Metromover: 138 NW Third Street Miami, Florida 33128
Coordinates	25°46′33″N 80°11′45″W / 25.77583°N 80.19583°W / 25.77583; -80.19583Coordinates: 25°46′33″N 80°11′45″W / 25.77583°N 80.19583°W / 25.77583; -80.19583
Owned by	Miami-Dade County (Metrorail and Metromover) FEC (original and future FEC station and Tri-Rail station)
Line(s)	Metrorail:   Green Line   Orange Line Metromover:   Inner Loop   Omni Loop   Brickell Loop
Platforms	1 island platform (Metrorail) 2 side platforms (Metromover) 1 island platform (FEC, est. 2016) 1 island platform (Tri-Rail, est. 2016)
Tracks	2 (Metrorail) 2 (Metromover) 2 (FEC - est. 2016) 2 (Tri-Rail - est. 2016)
Connections	Metrobus: 2, 3, 7, 9, 11, 21, 51, 77, 93, 95, C (103), S (119), 120, 195, 207, 208, 246, 277 and 500 Broward County Transit (BCT): 95, 595, Taxicabs
Construction
Structure type	Elevated
Platform levels	4
Parking	FEC-owned private lots
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Station code	GVT
History
Opened	Late 1890s (FEC) May 20, 1984 (Metrorail) April 17, 1986 (Metromover)
Closed	January 23, 1963 (FEC)
Traffic
Passengers (2011)	3.2 million[1] (Metrorail)  3%
Passengers (Feb 2014)	299,806[2] (Metrorail (Miami))
Passengers (Feb 2014)	210,134[2] (Metromover)
Services
Preceding station   Metrorail   Following station Historic Overtown/Lyric Theatre toward Palmetto Green Line Brickell toward Dadeland South Historic Overtown/Lyric Theatre toward Airport Orange Line Preceding station   Metromover   Following station Miami Avenue toward Government Center Inner Loop Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. One-way operation Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. One-way operation Brickell Loop Third Street toward Financial District Omni Loop Third Street toward School Board Preceding station   SFRTA   Following station   Future services   Terminus Blue Line Coastal Link Metrorail Transfer toward Mangonia Park Preceding station   Florida East Coast Railway   Following station   Future services   Fort Lauderdale toward Orlando International Airport All Aboard Florida (2016) Terminus   Former services   Little River toward Jacksonville FEC Mainline Terminus
Location

Government Center is an intermodal transit hub in the Government Center area of Downtown Miami, Florida. It is operated by Miami-Dade Transit and serves as an transfer station for the Metrorail and Metromover rapid transit systems and as a bus station for Metrobus, Paratransit, and Broward County Transit buses. The station is located near the intersection of Northwest First Street and First Avenue, a part of the Stephen P. Clark Government Center Building. It opened to service May 20, 1984, on the site of several earlier train stations.

History

View toward the southeast of the city center, with passenger trains and the Dade County Courthouse foreground, c. 1930s

Florida East Coast Railroad Station

Government Center was originally a railroad station developed in the late 1890s as the southern terminus of Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) from 1896 through 1905, when construction began extending the line to Key West (see Overseas Railroad). The FEC built a modest wooden-constructed downtown passenger terminal in 1912, near the future Miami-Dade County Courthouse at 200 Northwest First Avenue.^[3] The Miami-Dade County Courthouse was completed in 1928. One year before its completion, in 1927, Seaboard Air Line Railroad intercity passenger rail started service at the location, and, along with the FEC, continued service through January 23, 1963, when both of the rail unions went on strike.^[4][5]

At the insistence of the City of Miami, which had long fought to get rid of the tracks in the downtown section just north of the county courthouse, the downtown passenger terminal was demolished by November 1963.^[6] Although a new station was planned at the Buena Vista yard near North Miami Avenue and 36th Street (US 27),^[5] it was never built. The site of the old station is currently parking lots on the east side of the modern transportation hub.

When FEC ended their passenger service, this left Seaboard Coast Line (Later Amtrak) as the sole intercity rail in Miami. They operated out of the decaying Allapattah terminal at NW 7th Avenue until in 1978 Amtrak moved to its current location near Hialeah.^[7]

Metrorail and Metromover Station

Development of the civic center was reinvigorated during the 1970s and early 1980s during a Downtown building boom. The boom spurred the development and construction the Stephen P. Clark Government Center, Metrorail, Metromover, and the Miami-Dade Cultural Plaza, which currently includes the Miami Art Museum, the Historical Museum of Southern Florida and the Miami Main Library.

Construction on the present-day Government Center station began in June 1982. The station was primarily designed by the Cambridge Seven Associates in collaboration with Edward D. Stone. The station was built by the Frank J. Rooney Construction Company. Metrorail service, between Overtown and Kendall, following the precise route of the FEC, commenced service May 1984.

An unused, partially completed ghost platform for a future East-West Metrorail line is adjacent to the west side of the mezzanine level below the current Metrorail station and is easily visible to passengers transferring from Metromover to Metrorail. This platform was part of the original design concept which interfaced with the atrium of the Miami-Dade County Administration Building, and the people mover station.

Levels

A Metromover train waiting on the lower level of the Government Center station.

A Metrorail train is approaching the upper level of the Government Center station with the Dade County Courthouse in the background.

The first floor of the Government Center complex is on the ground level of the Stephen P. Clark Government Center, which has access to the second level, and the Downtown (Inner) Loop platform of Metromover.

The second floor of the Government Center complex includes the main fare control for Metrorail and operations of the metro system, along with 2 Metromover side metromover platforms. The Brickell and Omni Loop Metromover lines are accessible directly from this level, while the Downtown Loop can only be accessed by the mezzanine or ground level. It also features the Metrofare Shops area, which are open most weekdays until mid-afternoon and closed weekends and federal holidays.

The third floor of the complex is a mezzanine for Metrorail and Metromover trains. Access to the Metrorail platform above and both Metromover platforms below provides for easy transfers. A ghost platform for the never built east-west line is located on the floor.

The fourth floor of the complex is the Metrorail Orange and Green Line platform. This section of the station is composed of 2 tracks (one for southbound trains and one for northbound trains) and 1 island platform. It is the highest transit platform of the Miami-Dade Transit system in height and can hold up to 8 Metrorail cars. The station is equipped with WI-FI, escalators, and elevators to the mezzanine level, which provides access to Metromover platforms and the second level.

Future

The Florida East Coast Railway still owns the land alongside the current Government Center Station, and is planning to build a new inter-city rail station at the site as part of their effort to return passenger service to their line, known as All Aboard Florida.

In May 2014 All Aboard Florida unveiled their plans for the 9 acre site, construction anticipated in late 2014. It will include two tracks on either side of an island platform, 50 ft above street level, 3 million square feet of transit-oriented development, with Retail shops at street level and hotel rooms, housing and office space would occupy number towers above the station.^[8][9]

Places of interest

• Downtown Miami
  • Neighborhoods: Omni, Park West, and Miami Jewelry District
• Miami Art Museum
• Historical Museum of Southern Florida
• Miami Main Library
• Stephen P. Clark Government Center
• Miami-Dade County Courthouse
• Museum Tower
• Courthouse Center
• U.S. Courthouse Building
• Freedom Tower
• The Congress Building
• Downtown Omni Bus Terminal
• American Airlines Arena
• Bayside Marketplace
• Flagler Street
• Bayfront Park
• Bicentennial Park
• Miami Art Museum
• Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts
• New World School of the Arts
• Miami Dade College - Wolfson Campus
• Olympia Theater
• Miami Beach and South Beach (via lettered Metrobus routes or taxicabs)

Transit connections

Government Center with the Dade County Courthouse in the background and the Historical Museum of Southern Florida in the foreground on the right

Metrobus

BCT

Gallery

• 

  Three modes of transit operating simultaneously at Government Center during afternoon rush hour

• 

  The Government Center Metromover transfer station

• 

  A Metromover train is approaching Government Center station

• 

  Passengers exit a northbound Metrorail train during rush hour

• 

  Platforms overlooking the contemporary US Courthouse building.

• 

  The ghost platform that is on the mezzanine level

• 

  A closer view of the ghost platform

• 

  A Metrorail sign in the plaza

• 

  View toward the southeast of the city center, with the FEC passenger trains and the Dade County Courthouse foreground, circa 1930s

• 

  Critical Mass Miami assembling at Government Center

See also

• Transportation in South Florida

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Government Center (MDT station).

• MDT – Metrorail Stations
• MDT – Metromover Stations
• 1st Street entrance from Google Maps Street View

Railroad and metro stations in the Miami metropolitan area Tri-Rail (SFRTA) Boca Raton Boynton Beach Cypress Creek Deerfield Beach Delray Beach Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale Airport Golden Glades Hialeah Market Hollywood Lake Worth Mangonia Park Miami Airport Metrorail Transfer Opa-locka Pompano Beach Sheridan Street West Palm Beach Miami-Dade Transit List of metro stations Metrorail Allapattah Brickell Brownsville Civic Center Coconut Grove Culmer Dadeland North Dadeland South Douglas Road Earlington Heights Government Center Hialeah Historic Overtown/Lyric Theatre Martin Luther King Jr. Miami Airport Northside Okeechobee Palmetto Santa Clara South Miami Tri-Rail University Vizcaya Metromover Adrienne Arsht Center Bayfront Park Brickell College/Bayside College North Eighth Street Eleventh Street Fifth Street Financial District First Street Freedom Tower Government Center Knight Center Miami Avenue Museum Park Park West Riverwalk School Board Tenth Street/Promenade Third Street Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. Station MIA Mover (MIA) Miami Central Station MIA Central Terminal