Miami mayor seeks city support of rejected Rickenbacker Causeway plan

Miami city commissioners are considering a continued show of support for the Rickenbacker Causeway Project, also known as Plan Z, advanced by Zyscovich Architects and others.

At its meeting today (6/9), the city commission is set to vote on a resolution reaffirming its endorsement of Plan Z and urging Miami-Dade County to immediately reopen the Request for Proposals (RFP) or reissue a similar RFP “to develop, maintain, and operate the Rickenbacker Causeway and associated recreational elements.”

The resolution is sponsored by Mayor Francis Suarez.

The Plan Z Consortium proposed a project designed to improve safety for cyclists, replace and enhance Bear Cut Bridge, deal with resiliency and sea level rise, and create a 20-acre park and beach on Virginia Key, as part of an unsolicited proposal for the Rickenbacker Causeway.

First presented to the county last summer, the proposal was killed after the county decided to cancel the request for proposals procedure in January even before developers Partners Group, Zyscovich Architects, and former Miami-Dade parks director Jack Kardys got to officially submit their plan.

In an exclusive interview with Miami Today, Bernard Zyscovich, founder and CEO of Zyscovich Architects, said: “The terrible thing is to be rejected before you even have a chance to submit.”

The proposal he put together had many features that he could not explain to the community while the RFP was issued by the county as it fell under the cone of silence, prohibiting any communication regarding a particular bid solicitation after it has been issued.

Among these were special vehicle lanes for residents of Key Biscayne to avoid being stuck in traffic during events and a redesign of the landscape that included adding artificial reefs to reverse the damage of construction.

The unsolicited proposal, now in the public record, included a separated bicycle and pedestrian lane along the entire Rickenbacker Causeway, the elevation and re-alignment of the Rickenbacker Causeway on Virginia Key, the development of a 20-acre park and beach on Virginia Key, and the improvement of the Venetian Causeway.

The proposers did not include any commercial components in their plan. These were added by the county once they issued the RFP, Mr. Zyscovich said. The county’s document included the development of public park concessions.

Since the county rescinded the RFP, the group stopped working on the project, but Mr. Zyscovich recently said that if the county decides to start a competitive process for the Rickenbacker Causeway, he believes the funding source, Swiss private investors Partners Group, would be willing to come to the table again.

The proposed resolution before city commissioners notes the history of Plan Z.

On July 23, 2015, the commission endorsed the Rickenbacker park project, Plan Z, supporting its vision as presented, coordinating with agencies to move the project forward, and requesting that the project be brought back to the city commission during the early design to allow for input and comment.

The city owns most of Virginia Key, including the historic Marine Stadium and basin. The county is the owner and operator of the Rickenbacker Causeway, the only road connecting the mainland with Virginia Key and Key Biscayne.

The city’s 2015 resolution urged the county to immediately pursue a “pilot project” to assist in determining the feasibility of implementing Plan Z, including employing improved signage, paint striping, and installing temporary physical barriers separating motorists from bicyclists and pedestrians in order to immediately increase safety for all users of the Rickenbacker Causeway.

And also, “to facilitate the reconfiguration of the Rickenbacker Causeway as a more pedestrian and bike-friendly environment, and, within one year, provide an update on the success of the pilot project, and move to immediately fund and implement the full build-out of the Plan Z vision.”

The county achieved a portion of the pilot project including striping, green paint, and signage, but no protective barriers were installed.

The new city resolution states that the county’s Transportation Planning Organization in 2019 adopted the 2045 Miami-Dade Bicycle Pedestrian Master Plan highlighting the importance and investment in a comprehensive bike/pedestrian plan that includes a multimodal approach to designing transportation facilities and Complete Street best practices, acknowledging the elements found in the Miami Loop system (the Underline, Ludlam, Commodore, Rickenbacker, Miami River Greenway trails), listing Plan Z for the Rickenbacker as an unfunded showcase project and providing no county funding plan for its implementation.

The resolution says, “… after eight years of gathering input from the County and municipalities as well as Rickenbacker Causeway stakeholders and the cycling community, renowned architect and urban planner Bernard Zyscovich developed Plan Z, a comprehensive design that includes a 30 foot wide separated and protected bicycle and pedestrian corridor, improved automobile traffic flow, the replacement of the Bear Cut Bridge, the elevation of the entire road bed by three 3 feet to meet coastal resiliency standards and a 20 acre park that serves as green infrastructure to protect the road and enhance equitable access to the bay for all County residents.

“Plan Z’s phase 2 also enhances connectivity by and between South Miami Avenue, South Bayshore Drive, the Commodore Trail in Coconut Grove, and the Underline, creating a safe and sustainable corridor for cyclists and pedestrians as well as enhancing connectivity with mass transit, including bus stops, the City’s trolley system, the Metrorail and Metromover, thereby providing better access to the County’s public transportation network for all residents and visitors,” it reads.

It says further, Mr. Zyscovich in good faith organized a consortium of partners to design, build, finance, operate, and maintain the Rickenbacker Causeway.

“On Jan. 19, 2022, with 45 days left until bids were due and after a significant expenditure by the consortium to fairly compete and meet the RFP requirements, the county cancelled the RFP … while the County has a right to cancel an RFP at any time, the decision to do so prior to receiving bids has deprived the County from substantial benefits coming from the extensive planning and engineering designs that the proposers were in the process of submitting,” reads the resolution.

It concludes that “there is a significant need for a time-sensitive comprehensive approach to solving the design, financing, and operational needs for the Rickenbacker Causeway.”