Miami-Dade Mayor, Commissioners consider real solutions
The ‘if only’ is backwards.
After the terrible accident that killed two cyclists on the bike lane in Key Biscayne earlier this month, there are the inevitable grumblings that the county had a chance to make cycling on the Rickenbacker Causeway safer — “if only” they hadn’t killed the Plan Z overhaul and privatization proposal.
Bernard Zyscovich, the architect who dreamt up the no-bid, backroom deal for a $500 million bridge and road improvements project with “recreational amenities” in exchange for ownership of the causeway and its contracts and its tolls, told the Miami Herald that his plan would have provided a 30-foot wide biking/walking path on both sides of the causeway.
“I tried to do everything I could possibly do to at least put a plan in place to prevent terrible things from happening,” he said.
Read related: Options for Rickenbacker Causeway Plan Z considered after county analysis
No, Mr. Z. What people really should be saying is that we could have had permanent barricaded bike lanes, improved signage and other bicycle safety enhancements already, “if only” Plan Z wasn’t a real estate boondoggle that had very little to do with cycling safety and a lot to do with sub-contracts and vendors and money.
What does cycling safety have to do with beach concessions? A gift shop and restaurant? Or an observation platform? If only Plan Z wasn’t a big public grab, perhaps this wouldn’t have happened.
If only it wasn’t a roadway improvement project being handled through the parks department.
If only the former county parks director hadn’t been involved from both sides, as a public servant and as a consultant for Zyscovich, in what seems an obvious conflict of interest.
Of course, these deaths — only the latest in a long string of many needless cycling accidents — are evidence of a huge and unacceptable problem that needs to be remediated immediately. That’s why Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has already taken some action and several commissioners have publicly committed to support long-term solutions.
Temporary traffic cones and digital signs are up, slowing the speed limit along stretches of the scenic route that is super popular with cyclists as the county looks to place some kind of permanent vertical barricades. La Alcaldesa has committed $250,000 — the most she can spend without commission approval — toward it.
There is another $15 million in this year’s budget for improvements to bicycle safety. “Of course, we need more,” Levine Cava said. She reminded the commissioners that she had sponsored a measure to take part of the road impact fees to fund bicycle safety and got no support.
“You may want to consider that now,” she said, polishing her nails on her lapel.
While it may not be enough, there is also $5 million set aside for the long overdue repairs on the Bear Cut Bridge, which Commissioner Raquel Regalado got prioritized in January. On Tuesday, Regalado asked for a report on that effort.
In other words, what’s happened and what’s happening?
Read related: Rickenbacker RFP looks like a done deal set-up for no-bid Plan Z proposal
She also raised the possibility that Plan Z could return in either the same or a different form. And the elephant in the room: raising tolls.
“We also need to have a conversation about the tolls, since part of the issue is how do we pay for it and how long will it take with the finances that we have,” Regalado said. “If the tolls we are receiving at the moment is not enough then we need to have a conversation about it.”
She asked the administration for details on the tolls: When have they been increased? When is the next projected increase? How many people use it?
Regalado also noted that certain parts of the causeway are more dangerous than others and said she didn’t understand why there can’t be barriers, especially as the county looks at the safety of bike lanes countywide.
“We put barriers down for parades! If people cant feel safe on them we’re never going to get anywhere with this. We need to rethink the whole thing,” Regalado said, asking for a comprehensive bicycle master plan.
Key Biscayne Mayor Mike Davey said there should be a Rickenbacker Causeway master plan that is created by all the stakeholders. “It is critical to work together toward a long term solution,” he said.
Commissioner Eileen Higgins, back from a trip to Washington, D.C., said three were federal dollars that the county can and should apply for to complete projects like these.
“It’s embarrassing how behind we are. One decade, two decades or one century,” she said, adding that she had to fight for years to get the armadillo pavers — hard plastic bumpers shaped like the animal’s back — to keep drivers off the bike lane on the Venetian Causeway and other areas.
“We are not a cycling town, we don’t have safe streets for cyclists or pedestrians. We have to fix that going forward especially if we want to get people out of their cars,” Higgins said, adding that MacArthur Causeway was also a dangerous stretch that needs to be addressed.
Read related: Miami Beach dodges causeway Plan Z for privatization, but not Key Biscayne
Commissioner Oliver Gilbert said it was dangerous all over the county. “The lack of respect that we have for cyclists is astounding in this county, and we do need to do a better job with facilities,” he said.
Commissioner Kionne McGhee said the county should seek sponsors or private donors. That is a great idea. Barricades can be like billboards with changing images and ads depending on who wants to send a message. It could generate the income needed to fix and maintain the causeway.
Under Florida law, Regalado explained, cycles are considered vehicles and cyclists have a right to be on the road. “What this county has done is say that bike lanes are a priority so that folks who do not want to be in the road with the cars can be on the bike lanes and be safe.
“If we are teaching kids to stay on the bike lane, then we have to do everything we can to make the bike lanes safe,” Regalado said. “When we were talking about Plan Z, folks were talking about charging cyclists to use the causeway, more tolling.
“Are we going to revive Plan Z? Are we going to do something else?”
Something has to be done, she said.
That’s true. But it doesn’t include an observation deck and gift shop.
Rickenbacker Causeway bike safety was casualty of Plan Z public land grab added by Ladra on
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