MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Two bicyclists were tragically killed on Sunday while riding on Rickenbacker Causeway, reigniting concerns about the safety of riders on the busy roadway.
Outcry and demands on social media following the anguish and disgust over the deaths.
The causeway was built as a highway, but it is now an iconic but dangerous mix of vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians.
Eli Stiers, an avid cyclist, got involved in the push for change at the county level after cyclist Aaron Cohen was killed by a hit and run driver a decade ago.
“The question becomes was this an accident or was this foreseeable, is this the first time this has happened? No. Could this have been avoided? Yes,” Stiers said.
Green paint lines were added to the causeway three years later, after another cyclist was killed.
Though since then, nothing. A stallout.
An unsolicited proposal to Miami-Dade County called Plan Z, a wholesale upgrade for the Rickenbacker Causeway, which included safety measure for all, was all but ditched last year after being mirid in politics.
“You have this mix on a really limited piece of real estate and the only connection to the mainland for Key Biscayne,” said Stiers.