Southwest 40th Street | |
Maintained by | FDOT |
---|---|
Length | 13.7 mi (22.0 km) SR 976 extends 8.5 mi (13.7 km) |
West end | Turnpike Extension near Kendall |
Major junctions |
SR 953 in Coral Gables US 1 in Miami |
East end | West 162nd Avenue in Miami |
Bird Road, co-signed State Road 976 (SR 976) from the Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike (SR 821) in Westwood Lakes, Florida to U.S. Route 1 (SR 5) in Miami, is a 13.7-mile (22.0 km) main east–west road running south of downtown Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida.
State Road 976 begins on Bird Road at the Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike in Westwood Lakes, heading east as a primarily commercial six lane divided highway, including many strip malls on its route. It crosses State Road 985 before leaving Westwood Lakes and entering Westchester. Between SW 94th Avenue and SW 92nd Avenue, Bird Road passes by Bird Bowl, one of the few remaining bowling establishments in Miami-Dade County. Bird Road then crosses State Road 973 (Galloway Road), and borders the northern end of Tropical Park, the former site of a race track that had its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, and now a Miami-Dade County park. At the northeastern border of Tropical Park, SR 976 has an interchange with the Palmetto Expressway. At the southeast corner of its intersection of Ludlam Road, a block of vintage stores lines the road. At State Road 959, the road enters Coral Gables, with the median of the road containing spreading banyan trees, similar to the nearby Coral Way. Between State Road 959 (Red Road) and State Road 953 (LeJeune Road), the road is primarily residential, crossing a couple of golf courses. East of SR 953 and Coral Gables High School, 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.