Bird Road, co-signed State Road 976 (SR 976) from the

Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike The Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike (HEFT), designated as unsigned State Road 821 (SR 821), is the southern extension of Florida's Turnpike, a controlled-access toll road in the U.S. state of Florida maintained by Florida's T ...

(SR 821) in Westwood Lakes,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

to U.S. Route 1 ( SR 5) in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, is a main east–west road running south of

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

Miami in

Miami-Dade County, Florida Miami-Dade County () is a County (United States), county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the most populous coun ...

Route description

State Road 976 begins on Bird Road at the

in Tamiami, heading east through Westchester to its north and Westwood Lakes to its south as a primarily commercial six lane divided highway. It crosses State Road 985 before leaving Westwood Lakes and bordering Olympia Heights. Between Southwest 94th Avenue and Southwest 92nd Avenue, Bird Road passes by Bird Bowl, one of the few remaining

bowling Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...

establishments in

Miami-Dade County Miami-Dade County () is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most-populous coun ...

. Bird Road then crosses State Road 973 (

Galloway Road Galloway Road, also known as West 87th Avenue, is a north–south route through the western areas of suburban Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County, Florida, from the Black Point area south of Cutler Bay, Florida, Cutler Bay almost to the ...

) before forming the northern boundary of

Tropical Park Tropical Park is a urban park in metropolitan Miami, Florida. The park is located just southwest of the intersection of the Palmetto Expressway (SR 826) and Bird Road, just west of South Miami. History The land opened as a county public par ...

. At the northeastern edge of Tropical Park, SR 976 interchanges with the Palmetto and

Don Shula Donald Francis Shula ( ; January 4, 1930 – May 4, 2020) was an American professional American football, football player, coach and executive who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) from 1963 to 1995. He played seven s ...

Expressways. A block of vintage stores lines the road at the southeast corner of its intersection with Ludlam Road a mile to the east. After crossing Red Road ( State Road 959), the road narrows to four lanes as it enters

Coral Gables Coral Gables is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida and is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248. Cora ...

, with the median of the road containing spreading

banyan A banyan, also spelled banian ( ), is a fig that develops accessory trunks from adjacent prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees with a strangler habit that begin life as ...

trees, similar to the nearby

Coral Way Coral Way is a neighborhood within Miami, Florida that is defined by Coral Way (street), Coral Way, a road established by Coral Gables, Florida, Coral Gables founder George E. Merrick during the Florida land boom of the 1920s, 1920s. It is loca ...

. Between Red Road and LeJeune Road ( State Road 953), the road is primarily residential, crossing a couple of golf courses. East of SR 953 and

Coral Gables Senior High School Coral Gables Senior High School is a secondary school located at 450 Bird Road in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. The school opened in 1950. Its architectural design reflects a Spanish influence. Open courtyards adorned with water fountain ...

, 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. East of State Road 976's eastern terminus, Bird Road becomes Southwest 30th Street/Bird Avenue as it traverses the

Coconut Grove Coconut Grove, also known colloquially as "The Grove", is an affluent and the oldest continuously inhabited neighborhoods of Miami, neighborhood of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The neighborhood is roughly bounded by North Prospect Driv ...

neighborhood of Miami, intersecting Southwest 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 Southwest 42nd Street and passes through a primarily residential area, with several businesses and strip malls scattered through. Bird Road currently ends at Southwest 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. Bird Road was named after Reverend C.S. and Molly Piercy Bird, who had homesteaded 160 acres that includes the current Biltmore Golf Course.

Major intersections

References

{{Greater Miami Roads in Miami-Dade County, Florida