{"id":373950,"date":"2026-08-17T20:08:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T20:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/373950\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T20:08:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T20:08:13","slug":"new-underline-section-opens-from-dadeland-to-south-miami","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/373950\/","title":{"rendered":"New Underline section opens from Dadeland to South Miami"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Families<\/p>\n

Families and kids enjoy the new playgrounds during the grand opening for the Nikki Spoelstra Play Forest in South Miami’s section of The Underline on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026.<\/p>\n

Pedro Portal<\/p>\n

pportal@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n

New sections of The Underline are popping out regularly like hot bread from the oven as work on the last remaining unfinished pieces of the 10-mile linear park and trail enters the final stretch.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Friends of the Underline and Miami-Dade County ceremonially opened the newest finished piece, running 1.17 miles from Dadeland to South Miami at the edge of Coral Gables at Red Road.<\/p>\n

Kids frolicked in the new Nikki Spoelstra Play Forest, one of the segment\u2019s highlights, while a band played and vendors hawked food by South Miami City Hall as advocates and officials spoke at the dedication.<\/p>\n

The formal opening means that seven of The Underline\u2019s 10 miles are now finished and open. Still to come is the middle section, through Coral Gables and along the University of Miami, which will contain some of the trail\u2019s most elaborate features. That\u2019s expected to be ready at the end of the year.<\/p>\n

Once that happens, Underline founder Meg Daly promises \u201ca 10-mile-long party\u201d to celebrate the unlikely realization of what she says many regarded as a \u201ccrazy idea\u201d when she first proposed it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is still a lot more to come, but it\u2019s really exciting to go from dream to reality,\u201d Daly said.<\/p>\n

The big Nikki Spoelstra forest, which as the name suggests is a sylvan version of a playground, will allow kids to connect with nature \u2014 a big Underline theme throughout the lushly planted trail \u2014 as they explore and have fun. There is an outdoor reading room, a set of musical instruments and covered seating for the parents.<\/p>\n

Spoelstra, a former Miami Heat dancer and a local influencer, donated $500,000 to sponsor the play forest.<\/p>\n

\"A A group of elected officials and community members, including The Underline’s CEO Eulois Cleckley, joined South Miami resident Nikki Spoelstra during the grand opening of the Nikki Spoelstra Play Forest in South Miami’s section of The Underline on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such a feel-good project,\u201d Spoelstra recently told the Miami Herald<\/a>. \u201cNature, exploration and creativity are all things I\u2019m passionate about. I also wanted to create something that would have lasting impact that my kids would be able to experience, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new section, which people have been checking out since construction fences came down earlier this summer, also features a butterfly garden, a village of birdhouses and a micro-forest \u2014 a compact, fast-growing cluster of trees and shrubs that mimics a natural forest.<\/p>\n

\"Isabel Isabel Silva, a community coordinator with The Underline, helps Maria Jos\u00e9 Collazos and her 2-year-old daughter, Celeste Fernandez, to plant a tree in a micro forest next to the Underline on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

In addition, work on this newest segment included replacement of a bridge over a canal just north of Southwest 80th Street that dated back to the days when the trail corridor, which runs under the elevated Metrorail line along U.S. 1, was industrialist Henry Flagler\u2019s rail line.<\/p>\n

The section also connects directly to a South Miami Hospital meditation garden<\/a>, built several years ago, that had been locked, awaiting completion of the Underline section next to it, Daly said.<\/p>\n

Miami-Dade Commissioner Raquel Regalado, whose district includes a long section of the Underline and who lives near it, said before Saturday\u2019s opening that many of her neighbors are talking about it and meeting to walk the trail.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople in Miami-Dade are so used to broken promises that they are excited to see it come to life,\u201d Regalado said. \u201cIt really is building community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Miami Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra and his children joined his ex-wife Nikki Spoelstra as she speaks during the grand opening of the Nikki Spoelstra Play Forest on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com \"Miami Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra joined his ex-wife Nikki Spoelstra during the grand opening of the Nikki Spoelstra Play Forest on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com \"Lourdes Lourdes Rosales and her daughter Valentina Delgado play on the new playgrounds in South Miami’s section of The Underline on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com \"A A biker rides on the Underline pathway in South Miami on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com \"A A group of elected officials and community members joined South Miami resident Nikki Spoelstra (center) and her children during the grand opening of the Nikki Spoelstra Play Forest on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com \"Families Families and kids walk around the pathways in South Miami’s section of The Underline on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com \"Kate Kate Macia and her son AJ Macia biked from Pinecrest on the Underline pathway on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Andres Viglucci<\/a><\/p>\n

Miami Herald<\/p>\n

Andres Viglucci covers urban affairs for the Miami Herald. He joined the Herald in 1983.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Families and kids enjoy the new playgrounds during the grand opening for the Nikki Spoelstra Play Forest in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":373951,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-373950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373950\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/373951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}