The General Douglas MacArthur Causeway is a six-lane

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet T ...

that connects

Downtown Miami Downtown Miami is the urban city center of Miami, Florida, United States. The city's greater downtown region consists of the Central Business District, Brickell, the Historic District, Government Center, the Arts & Entertainment District, and ...

South Beach South Beach, also nicknamed colloquially as SoBe, is a Neighborhoods of Miami Beach, Florida, neighborhood in Miami Beach, Florida. It is located east of Miami between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The area encompasses Miami Beach south ...

via

Biscayne Bay Biscayne Bay is a lagoon with characteristics of an estuary located on the Atlantic coast of South Florida. The northern end of the lagoon is surrounded by the densely developed heart of the Miami metropolitan area while the southern end is large ...

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 ...

. The highway is the singular roadway connecting the

mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or demogr ...

and beaches to Watson Island and the bay neighborhoods of Palm Island, Hibiscus Island, and Star Island. The MacArthur Causeway carries State Road 836 and State Road A1A over the Biscayne Bay via a

girder bridge A girder bridge is a bridge that uses girders as the means of supporting its deck. The two most common types of modern steel girder bridges are plate and box. The term "girder" is often used interchangeably with "beam" in reference to bridge d ...

. Interstate 395 ends at Fountain Street, the entrance to Palm Island Park which has a

traffic light Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – also known as robots in South Africa, Zambia, and Namibia – are signaling devices positioned at intersection (road), road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order t ...

as well as bus stops.

History

In the late 1910s, with the deteriorating wooden

Collins Bridge The Collins Bridge was a bridge that crossed Biscayne Bay between Miami and Miami Beach, Florida. At the time it was completed, it was the longest wooden bridge in the world. It was built by farmer and developer John S. Collins (1837–1928) wi ...

(now, the

Venetian Causeway The Venetian Causeway crosses Biscayne Bay between Miami on the mainland and Miami Beach on a barrier island in the Miami metropolitan area. The man-made Venetian Islands and non-bridge portions of the causeway were created by materials wh ...

) as the only direct land route between mainland Miami and the

barrier island Barrier islands are a Coast#Landforms, coastal landform, a type of dune, dune system and sand island, where an area of sand has been formed by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of an ...

s of Miami Beach, construction on the roadway began in 1917. The roadway, dedicated as the County Causeway, was completed in 1920.

Watson Island Watson Island is a neighborhood and man-made island in Biscayne Bay, in Miami, Florida. It is located Immediately east of the Central Business District and Arts & Entertainment District neighborhoods of downtown Miami and is connected to the m ...

was reclaimed surrounding the western end of the roadway, completed in 1926. Having undergone several lane and structural expansions following opening of the original two-lane road, the State Road Board and Dade County Commission voted to rename the causeway in honor of World War II

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He served with dis ...

in 1942. The causeway was accessible from mainland Miami via Biscayne Boulevard and intersecting side streets through the 1960s. Construction of direct highway access to I-395 was complete in the 1970s. The replacement of the westernmost and easternmost spans began in the 1990s, as the eastbound lanes of the bridges were completed in 1995 and westbound lanes finished in 1997.

Gallery

File:MacArthur Causeway 20100520.jpg, Large portion of the causeway. Fisher Island and Port of Miami are in the background.

is in the foreground. File:Macarthurcauseway.jpg, MacArthur Causeway eastbound from Miami to Miami Beach (in far background). File:Macarthur Causeway at night.jpg, Macarthur Causeway at night as seen from Watson Island

References

External links

* , 2006 {{coord, 25, 46, 40, N, 80, 9, 52, W, region:US-FL_dim:2000, display=title Roads in Miami Roads in Miami Beach, Florida Roads in Miami-Dade County, Florida Causeways in Miami-Dade County, Florida Bridges completed in 1920 Intracoastal Waterway 1920 establishments in Florida U.S. Route 41 Concrete bridges in the United States Girder bridges in the United States Road bridges in Florida Beam bridges in the United States Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System