KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. – Drivers trying to leave Key Biscayne and Virginia Key for the Miami-Dade County mainland were trapped for hours on Sunday.
The start of a Florida Department of Transportation concrete pavement project closure caused westbound traffic delays.
Brian McNody, a research associate at the University of Miami campus on Virginia Key, used X to express his frustration.
“I guess I should keep food, water, and a sleeping bag in the car if I plan on doing that again,” McNody wrote.
Drivers reported the traffic on Crandon Boulevard to the Rickenbacker Causeway stretched for two to over six hours. Andrew Hazelton, a scientist who works for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, was in Virginia Key.
“It was a disaster,” Hazelton wrote on X.
Natalia Santamaria said she forgot about the pre-announced plan to close the flyover bridge to U.S. 1 and Interstate 95.
“Just imagine not being able to leave the island. The drive that takes me 10 minutes from the Key to Brickell took me four hours,” Santamaria said. “Who was the genius who thought that was a good idea?”
At the end of the Rickenbacker Causeway, westbound drivers only had the option to head left toward Brickell Avenue.
“This isn’t just a detour or delay! My family including 3 young children have been stranded for nearly 4 hours in the car near Bill Bags state park! This is a total disaster,” Attorney Naomi Nevy Garcia wrote on Facebook. “It’s past 11pm right now and the traffic is backed up all the way from 95. Horrible traffic planning!”
People were also leaving from Crandon Park, the Virginia Key Beach Park, and the Hobie Island Beach Park. Crandon Park has a golf course, a marina, and a tennis center.
Noel Puig used Facebook to report several family members were in traffic for over six hours.
“They are not the only ones stuck in traffic that is not moving,” Puig wrote. “Why shut down I-95 in the middle of a Sunday afternoon when so many families go to the beach in Key Biscayne?”
The project is set to last about two months.
Reynaldo Riobueno reported on X that he was “stuck” for four hours. Beatriz Garcia said she felt sick while “trapped in the traffic nightmare.” She stopped on the side of the road and sat on the grass.
“If I needed an ambulance, it would not have worked out well for me,” Garcia said over the phone. “I just had a migraine. It’s just not safe.”
Alissa Rae Miller, a personal trainer, had a similar experience after leaving Crandon Park at about 4:30 p.m. She is hypoglycemic, and after two hours in traffic, she started to feel sick.
“I was shaking, sweating, and disoriented around 7 and almost passed out,” Rae Miller wrote on Instagram. “I had my last of my coconut water and carbs but I never expected this ever in my life. This is not OK. This is a death trap.”
Key Biscayne Mayor Joe Rasco, Police Chief Frank Sousa, and Fire Chief Eric Lang told The Key Biscayne Independent the traffic caused problems for the village.
“I expect it will be just as bad during the workweek,” Sousa said.
The Islander News reported: “A Key Biscayne Sunday traffic horror that will live in infamy.”
Rasco released a statement on Instagram and Facebook. His promise: “We will fight to regain reasonable access.”
Quinton Lawton, a University of Miami researcher, used X to contact Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
“If this continues as is, I can’t see how businesses and schools on Virginia Key and Key Biscayne will even function,” Lawton wrote late Sunday night. “This is untenable.”
On Monday afternoon, the students who don’t live in the village will line up to leave the area from MAST Academy in Virginia Key and St. Agnes Academy in Key Biscayne.
FDOT released these instructions:
Motorists going west on the Rickenbacker Causeway who want to go south on SR 5/US 1/South Dixie Highway will:
· Continue west on Rickenbacker Causeway and merge left at the fork towards Coconut Grove/Brickell Avenue
· Continue driving west and make a left turn left South Miami Avenue
· Make a right turn onto US 1/S Dixie Highway
Motorists going west on the Rickenbacker Causeway who want to go north on SR 9A/I-95 will:
· Continue west on Rickenbacker Causeway and merge left at the fork towards Coconut Grove/Brickell Avenue
· Continue driving west onto SW 26 Road
· Turn right at the bend on SW 26 Road, then continue driving towards SW 25 Road
· Use the entrance ramp onto northbound I-95 from SW 25 Road