MIAMI – Miami-Dade County is taking action to make the Rickenbacker Causeway safer for bicyclists.
The initiative comes after several deadly crashes between riders and vehicles in the area.
Many of those cyclists got an early start Sunday morning, taking advantage of new bike barriers which now line parts of the causeway.
It’s just one of several safety changes after two cyclists were hit and killed by a driver last Sunday while riding in the bike lane near the William Powell Bridge.
In addition to adding the new bright orange cones in high traffic areas, the county has also installed new signs, warning drivers to be alert, while also reducing the posted speed limit.
As a result, police are also out on patrol.
It comes just days after the South Florida cycling community came together for a silent ride, remembering the lives of cyclists who have died or been hurt in traffic crashes.
That includes the couple killed just last week, identified as Yaudys Vera and Ogniana Reyes.
Maribel Reyes knows the danger after losing her husband of 25-years when he was also hit by a driver on the Rickenbacker.
We talked about the fact that it will happen again if nothing gets done, and sadly it did,” she said.
While Reyes welcomes the new safety changes, she wishes something had been done sooner.
“It is very hard for me to be here seven years later and realize we are back in the same spot that I was in 2015,” she said.
Other cycling advocates agree with her opinion.
“The county could and should have done something sooner,” sad cycling advocate Eli Stiers. “Two additional people had to die to spur some sort of reaction from the county.”