Rickenbacker Causeway headed for major upgrades

The Rickenbacker Causeway, whose private redevelopment in Plan Z was rejected last year, is getting new attention at Miami-Dade County, which this week was to act on two pieces of the upgrade puzzle.

The visible piece will revamp the Hobie Beach strip, the first segment of the 2.4-mile road from Miami across Virginia Key linking to Key Biscayne. The south side of Hobie Beach was upgraded about a decade ago. Now, the north side is to get a $12.7 million revamp, with south side changes too.

In less-visible work, the county is to pay $2.2 million for bond engineering services that will include annual physical inspections of the whole causeway mile by mile – a key concern given that the Bear Cut Bridge on the causeway’s east end, built in 1944, has deteriorated badly and needs a $90 million total replacement that is so far not funded.

The county’s Transportation, Planning and Mobility Committee this week was to vote to hire Magnum Construction Management for the Hobie Beach work, which includes shoreline stabilization, beach renourishment, new seawalls, a new stormwater management system, new pavement for parking and parkways, new paver walkways, guardrails, and extensive landscaping.

The contract is also to create new paved bike lanes and trails, which was a pivotal issue in the rejected Plan Z to remake the causeway as a more friendly route for large numbers of cyclists. Frequent bicycle accidents have led the county to change auto speed limits along the causeway multiple times.

The other contract, with HNTB Corp., will bring separate reports of the physical condition of the roadway, its bridges and the facilities for tolls – the causeway has had a one-way toll since it opened in 1947. The firm will report also on toll revenue transactions and capabilities, as well as future plans. Toll revenues are the key to repay bond borrowing needed to build a new Bear Cut Bridge.