"A 10-mile-long party." Underline founder Meg Daly used that phrase in an interview with the Miami Herald about the day the last unfinished piece of the trail opens. That piece runs through Coral Gables and along the University of Miami, and it's expected at the end of this year.
When that happens, the stretch under the Metrorail between the Miami River and SW 13th Street becomes the north end of a continuous park reaching Dadeland South. That changes where a Saturday run can go. It also changes the Brickell Backyard's underlying setup. The project is moving from construction money to operating money, and the cities it runs through, Miami among them, now share the yearly cost of the landscaping, the programming, and the free classes on the Brickell end.
Five Years at the Top of the Map
The Brickell Backyard opened on Feb. 26, 2021, and for a while it was simply the Underline. Phase 2 followed on April 24, 2024, carrying the trail from SW 13th Street to SW 19th Avenue. In its coverage of that opening, the Miami Herald saw joggers, cyclists, scooter riders, skaters, and dog-walkers on the new segment before the ribbon was even cut.
The pace has picked up since then. On Aug. 15, 2026, Friends of the Underline and Miami-Dade County formally opened a 1.17-mile section from Dadeland to South Miami at the Red Road edge of Coral Gables. The Herald reported that seven of the trail's 10 miles were now finished and open. In its October reporting, the Herald said construction is expected to wrap up by December, years early thanks to a large federal grant.
The finish date has moved before. A 2023 Herald report put completion at the end of 2025, and a 2024 report pushed it to late 2025 or early 2026. December 2026 is the current expectation, not a guarantee. In July, the county added $2.25 million and 270 days to the Phase 3 inspection contract, citing expanded scope, schedule impacts, and utility delays. Miami Today reported that the county's transportation director said no further extension requests were anticipated.
What the Brickell End Holds
The Brickell Backyard is the most built-out part of the corridor, and its named rooms are what the operating budget pays to maintain:
- River Room, at the north end by the Miami River.
- Urban Gym, with a flex court, a mini soccer pitch, fitness equipment, and a running track.
- The Promenade, between SW 8th Street and the Brickell Metrorail station, with game tables and a 50-foot communal dining table.
- Inter Stage, at 805 SW 1st Avenue, the event and performance space.
- Oolite Room, the fourth named destination in the original Brickell phase.
South of SW 13th Street, Phase 2 adds the Hammock Playground at SW 1st Avenue and SW 15th Road, next to Simpson Park, then Vizcaya Station Plaza and 17th Avenue Plaza farther along.
The Free Calendar Is the Operating Budget at Work
The weekly schedule is the most direct way to see what operating money pays for. According to The Underline's events calendar, the Brickell end currently hosts:
| Program | Where | When |
|---|---|---|
| UYoga | Urban Gym | Every Saturday, 9 to 10 a.m. |
| HIIT & RUN | Urban Gym | Twice a month on Sundays, 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. |
| UPilates with LitPilates | Inter Stage | Listed for Oct. 14, 6 to 7 p.m. |
| Levitt BLOC Miami Free Concert Series | Vizcaya Station Plaza | Listed on the calendar for this fall |
All of these are free. Individual dates change, so check the calendar before heading over.
The Saturday market at Inter Stage has finished for the year. The Underline Market returned to Brickell this season through a partnership with East Coast Markets, bringing local farmers, makers, produce, food, and music. According to Miami & Miami Beach, it ran every Saturday from July 25 through Oct. 10.
Where a Brickell Ride Can Go by Year's End
The finished trail runs from the Miami River in Brickell to the Dadeland South Metrorail station. Starting from the Brickell end, these are the stops already open or scheduled to open:
- Simpson Park and the Hammock Playground, just past SW 13th Street on Phase 2.
- Vizcaya Station Plaza, where the Levitt BLOC concerts take place.
- The Coral Gables middle section, still under construction. The Herald says it will contain some of the trail's most elaborate features. The Underline lists Pineland Courts as one of its Coral Gables destinations.
- Chewy Bark Park, near Douglas Metrorail, which opened Jan. 31, 2026. The Herald reported separate areas for small and large dogs, hydration and waste stations, and expected daily hours of 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. It's the closest dedicated dog park on the corridor for anyone starting in Brickell.
- The Nikki Spoelstra Play Forest, in South Miami's section, with an outdoor reading room, musical instruments, and covered seating for parents. Nikki Spoelstra donated $500,000 to sponsor it.
- SOMI Bike Shop, by the SW 80th Street trail entry. In July, the Herald reported that the shop was seeing more foot traffic from Underline users.
Phase 3 alone covers 7.36 miles from SW 19th Avenue near Vizcaya to Dadeland South. The City of Miami's plan describes 400,000 pieces of native vegetation for it, 3,000 trees among them, while the county's project page gives a smaller count of 350,000 native plants and 1,800 trees and palms. Either way, that is a lot of landscaping to keep up every year.
A $9.5 Million Annual Line Item
The Herald puts annual operating costs at around $9.5 million once the full trail is finished. In its Oct. 3 report, the paper described how that bill is being divided:
- Private donors and sponsors. Friends of the Underline aims to cover 60% of estimated operating costs this way next year.
- Miami-Dade County. The county agreed to several million dollars a year for three years, with the amount tapering annually and no guarantee beyond that.
- The three cities. The Conservancy asked Miami, Coral Gables, and South Miami together for about 30% of the cost of operating, programming, and maintaining the trail.
Each city has reached its own arrangement:
| City | Commitment as reported |
|---|---|
| Miami | About $1.5 million a year, rising 5% annually for five years |
| South Miami | $300,000 for the rest of fiscal 2025, rising 5% a year to $364,652 in fiscal 2030 |
| Coral Gables | $180,000 for fiscal 2026 and $500,000 for fiscal 2027 |
Miami's figure is rounded. An April 2025 Miami Today report described the proposal as $1.57 million in fiscal 2025-26, increasing 5% a year, for about $8.7 million through 2030.
Coral Gables approved its deal unanimously at the Sept. 29 budget hearing. The city's $500,000 for fiscal 2027 is half of what Underline leaders requested. In exchange, the city negotiated audited financials, an annual meeting to set terms for a new agreement, and a voting seat on the Underline Conservancy board, with the city commission choosing its own appointee. Gables commissioners said the county had promised that maintenance costs would not fall on the cities. County and Underline leaders said they could find no record of that promise. Coral Gables will need to return to the commission for future funding, and Daly told the Herald she hopes the cities' support will only be needed for a while.
For Brickell, this puts the trail on a different timetable. While it was being built, the Brickell Backyard's future was mostly a matter of construction schedules. Now the Urban Gym court, the Promenade's long table, and the Saturday yoga mats at the north end depend on yearly decisions. Those include a donor target, a county contribution that tapers after three years, and city budget votes that come back for renewal.
If you follow The Underline because it's part of where you live, or you're weighing how amenities like this fit into a move in Brickell, Stacey Waldron is glad to talk through what is open now, what's still being built, and what the coming budget years may mean for the trail. Let's Connect.
