How to rename a road after Dwyane Wade, and why his being alive makes it complicated

The road between Biscayne Boulevard and Dwyane Wade Boulevard runs through three levels of government, and is made just a bit steeper by the fact that the Heat star is still alive.

Sports radio host Brendan Tobin’s “Give Dwyane Biscayne” campaign seeks to rename the stretch of the thoroughfare that runs outside the AmericanAirlines Arena. Wade himself gave the idea a tacit thumbs up with a Tuesday tweet, writing “Wow!” over a video Tobin put together of Miami sports stars endorsing the road’s proposed new name.

Tobin may need the star power after trying to break through the bureaucracy surrounding the renaming of local roads.

Tere Florin, a spokeswoman for the county’s Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources, said a public hearing is required when Miam-Dade is the only government involved.

“The issue becomes a little more complicated when it’s a road that has multiple jurisdictions,” she said.

Biscayne is a state road, so the Florida Legislature would ultimately need to approve a name change. Miami and Miami-Dade both have jurisdiction over Biscayne, so the City Commission and County Commission would need to urge Florida to take up the renaming.

Road-naming resolutions require sponsorship from the commissioners representing the road, and Tobin said he’s been trying.

“Municipal officials can’t rename state roads … buddy,” Miami Commissioner Ken Russell wrote on Twitter Aug. 28 in response to Tobin and others pressing the “Dwyane Biscayne” plan. “That being said, I’d name my next child after @DwyaneWade.”

Tobin, a host on 790 The Ticket, said the office of Audrey Edmonson, the county commissioner who represents that part of downtown Miami, referred him to Florida’s Department of Transportation. That agency sent him back to Miami for municipal support. Along the way, Tobin said he’s heard of some potential complications.

“There’s some policy about naming the street for someone who is alive,” Tobin said Wednesday. “That sounds ludicrous to me. But that was the last hiccup I had heard.”

Miami-Dade famously regretted naming part of Southwest 16th Street after hometown slugger Jose Canseco in the 1980s, only to remove it decades later after he was caught up in various scandals, including steroids. Miami and Miami-Dade require near-unanimous commission votes for naming streets after living people.

Wade is the Heat’s most popular player now that he has agreed to play his final season in the NBA in Miami. In 2010, Miami-Dade commissioners voted to represent “Miami-Wade County” for one week in an effort to help persuade Wade to re-sign with the Heat (which he did, but he left for Chicago in 2016).

Dan Marino has his own boulevard in Miami Gardens, outside the Dolphins’ stadium. Don Shula’s name sits on one of the county’s busiest expressways. Tobin said he thinks the attention his video is getting will help cut through the red tape.

“There’s a lot of momentum for all of this to go through,” he said.