Rickenbacker Causeway bike safety fast-tracked

Miami-Dade commissioners seek immediate action to protect cyclists just days after a Jeep SUV fatally injured two bicyclists on the Rickenbacker Causeway.

Commissioners Tuesday brainstormed actions and agreed to discuss cyclists’ safety in a Transportation Mobility Committee meeting June 7. Raquel Regalado and Eileen Higgins said they would craft a proposal and Ms. Higgins asked Mayor Daniella Levine Cava for immediate actions beforehand.

Commissioners proposed immediately erecting barricades in high-incident areas and having tough conversations about funding needed improvements. For the long term, they said, the county should target federal and private funds and begin teaching people of all ages to respect cyclists.

“I am directing our department immediately to take urgent measures; I have in my authority up to $250,000 that we will be using for short-term bicyclist safety enhancement measures on the Rickenbacker, exactly at the places that are most vulnerable,” the mayor said.

Key Biscayne Mayor Michael Davey said the county’s public works department is working with the village’s staff to develop a conceptual plan for the causeway.

“While we appreciate the discussions that are taking place concerning the short-term ways to improve safety along the causeway, we believe that it is critical to work together toward a long-term solution for the Rickenbacker,” he said.

Commissioner Regalado advocated barricades to protect cyclists in high-incident areas. “I don’t know what else is it going to take for us to take some immediate steps, so I would like the administration to respond to that,” she said.

Chairman Jose “Pepe” Díaz said enhancing the cyclist’s security is going to take time to study before the county starts spending money on solutions.

“The issue of protected bike lanes in this county it’s embarrassing how behind we are. I don’t know if we’re one decade, two decades or an entire century behind the rest of this country,” said Ms. Higgins.

She criticized that the county’s Vision Zero plan, whose aim is to eliminate all traffic-related deaths and serious injuries by 2030, “I think is an absolute joke.”

“I just think the cycling [tragedy] on the Rickenbacker Causeway is similar to gun violence in my neighborhood and around North Miami and Liberty City,” Commissioner Jean Monestime said. “We just don’t want to do what we’re supposed to do about these things. It costs a lot of money to solve these issues [and] it requires very tough decisions.”

Kionne McGhee argued for the temporary barricades to protect cyclists. “The temporary barricades, the partnership with someone on the outside, a private company or private donor, I think that needs to be done now.”

Vice Chairman Oliver Gilbert agreed. “If we can do things like barricades now, to make specific areas safer, which we know are high-incident areas, I think that we should do it because I would much rather explain why we moved quickly to do something than explain to someone that we move slowly and did nothing and someone else died,” he said.

Sen. Javier Souto advocated educating people of all ages to respect cyclists. “Bikers need to be respected, and that starts home and starts with the school,” he said.

At Tuesday’s meeting, commissioners approved a report by the mayor in which the Department of Transportation and Public Works identifies steps needed to replace the causeway’s Bear Cut Bridge, another needed infrastructure project without funds allocated yet for design or construction.