Town Hall Meeting on Rickenbacker Causeway

Always a popular scenic drive for motorists (once dubbed the famed “rainbow trail to contentment”) the Rickenbacker Causeway is now equally revered by bicyclists and pedestrians who have transformed it into a linear park.

Unfortunately, its design and speed limits are more in line with a speedway than park way, with the resulting accidents and roadside tragedies.

Miami-Dade County Commissioner Carlos A. Gimenez and Coral Gables Commissioner Ralph Cabrera say they want to change that.

They’re looking for ideas from the public on how to improve public safety on the Rickenbacker.*

There will be a a town hall meeting beginning at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, July 1, at the Coral Gables Youth Center, 400 Anastasia Avenue, Coral Gables to hear public concerns and ideas.

“The Rickenbacker Causeway is a very popular area for both cyclists and pedestrians, so Miami-Dade and Coral Gables officials must do all they can to protect them,” Gimenez said.

Safety for those outside cars has always been an issue along the Rickenbacker. In the early days, it was fishermen who were most at risk.

A March 1960 news article reported that since the causeway opened in 1947, at least 10 persons were killed and more than 120 injured in car accidents involving fishermen stepping back onto the roadway or crossing the bridges.

The solution: build “catwalks” - more than 2,800 linear feet of protected fishing space - along the bridges where folks could fish to their heart’s content.” That’s enough room for 1,000 fisherman, the article stated.

Apparently, slowing down traffic or narrowing the lanes - two options recently suggested to improve safety for bicyclists - would have been considered heresy in 1960. The article went on to assure “motorists” their rides would not be hampered:

As a motorist, you gain two benefits from the catwalks....Instead of creeping at 20 miles an hour over the bridges, you may now cross the entire length of the causeway at speeds up to 40 miles an hour.

If only.

As anyone who has driven the Rickenbacker knows, the actual speed of cars is in excess of 60 mph.

No wonder they eventually outlawed fishing alongside the bridges altogether.


* If you can't attend the Town Hall meeting and still want to pass on ideas for making the Rickenbacker Causeway safer for pedestrians and bicyclists, contact:

Coral Gables Commissioner Ralph Cabrera: rcabrera@coralgables.com; (305) 569-1817
Miami-Dade Commissioner Carlos Gimenez: http://www.miamidade.gov/district07/home.asp; (305) 375-5680

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Wish List for Virginia Key that Keeps the Public In Mind

The City of Miami Planning Department has announced the Virginia Key Master Plan will be going back to City Advisory Boards and the City Commission in July.

The new proposed Virginia Key Master Plan is still a mystery. But the public’s wishes for the island are not.

These were culled over a five year period of public meetings - some decidedly heated -- where many expressed their disappointment, frustration and anger at what they perceived to be incompatible commercial and recreational development proposals.

The area of biggest contention continues to be the Marine Stadium Basin, which city officials and planners have targeted for commercial redevelopment.

But many members of the public who participated in the public planning process envisioned a different future. Here’s one wish list of proposals that restores the area to public uses:

-Restore the Miami Marine Stadium.

-Surround the Miami Marine Stadium with a waterfront park with picnic shelters, play areas and public gardens.

-Build a Virginia Key Welcome Center. This would be the first stop for all cultural, recreational public uses, where visitors pick up maps, sign up for boat tours, learn about the island’s history. The center could include space for permanent and temporary exhibits. It could also include a gift shop and waterfront cafe as a recurring source of revenue.

-Build a public promenade the length of the stadium basin from the Rowing Club to Rusty Pelican restaurant.

-Bring back the public boat launch (it’s there but use is blocked by signs stating the area is closed to public use).

-Build a Boat House where the general public can rent kayaks and canoes to tool around the basin, just like members of the Miami Rowing Club do.

-Provide for bike rentals and bike paths that roll the length of the island, through the North Point peninsula.

-Dock Tour boats and water taxis. The existing marina could dock tour boats for nature tours of Biscayne Bay, extending to Biscayne National Park, including Stiltsville. Water taxis docking in the area could connect to other waterfront destinations, including Coconut Grove, Bayside, Brickell and County and City parks.

What’s on your wish list?

@All Rights Reserved
On Facebook: Friends of Virginia Key

Miami Kayak Club July 3 Paddle From Virginia Key to Rock Reef, Underwater Sailboat Wreck

Explore the waters surrounding Virginia Key on the Fourth of July weekend with the Miami Kayak Club on a paddle ride that features a visit to the fossilized mangrove forest at the Bear Cut Preserve and snorkeling in the Half Moon archeological site.

The trip is part of the Miami Meet-up group. You can join the group and find out more about this trip and others at http://www.meetup.com/miami-kayak-club/calendar/13866356/.

For this trip, paddlers meet up at 9:30 a.m., Saturday, July 3 at Virginia Key Beach and paddle past Bear Cut to the wreck of the Half Moon to the Fossil Reef. This is the north entrance beach, also known as Sewer Beach (and a favorite of windsurfers, too), 3701 Rickenbacker Causey (off of Arthur Lamb Road).

Here’s what you’ll see:
FOSSIL REEF (Walk, Snorkel, Swim):
You can actually see the Fossil Reef from Virginia Key Beach at low tide. The rock reef extends along the northeastern shore of Key Biscayne and is part of the Bear Cut Nature Preserve. It’s actually fossilized black mangrove roots that are believed to be between 1,000-2,000 years old. It may be a one-of-kind structure in the world.
http://www.untamedscience.com/biodiversity/article/fossil-reef-near-miami-fl

WRECK OF THE HALF MOON:
An entombed racing sailboat that ran aground in 1930‘s lies in 8’-10’ feet of water and is now home to tropical fish, spiny lobster, sea sponges, crustaceans and myriad sea life.
http://www.museumsinthesea.com/_docs/Halfmoon_guide.pdf
http://www.museumsinthesea.com/_docs/Halfmoon_brochure.pdf
http://www.museumsinthesea.com/halfmoon/biology.htm



Directions: From I-95 South of Downtown Miami (or US 1), take Rickenbacker Cswy. Over the large, elevated bridge. Turn left at the first Virginia Key Beach sign just before the Miami Seaquarium. Keep to the right of the road that twists and turns until you get to a parking area for the beach park (on the right hand side).

From this parking lot you can also enter the Tropical Hardwood Hammock, which has a self-guided tour (it’s free and open to the public).

The kayaking trip is free if you bring your own vessel but there are fees along the way: a $1.50 per vehicle fee to cross the Rickenbacker Causeway and $5 per car fee the City of Miami charges to enter Virginia Key Beach.

Raw Sewage in Biscayne Bay Norm until Sewage Treatment Facility built on Virginia Key

The 20 million gallons of raw sewage that spewed into Biscayne Bay from a broken pipe last weekend grabbed headlines but until the sewage treatment plant was built on Virginia Key in the 1950’s, raw sewage in the Miami River and Biscayne Bay was the norm.

A dirty little secret that threatened to derail the fun-in-the-sun tourist mecca. Not to mention sicken the residents.

At the time, 29 sewers dumped untreated sewage into the Miami River and another 41 sanitary sewers dumped directly into Biscayne Bay.

According to a 2000 environmental study of Biscayne Bay by NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), the area between 79th Street Causeway and a line between Dinner Key and Cape Florida received a steady dose of pollution in high concentrations. The area was closed to swimming and residents were warned not to use the Bay. Quoting an engineer who observed the conditions in 1949, the reports stated:

A boat trip in the bay and out the main channel gives the visitor a chance to contrast the dark brown-gray polluted water near the city with the beautiful blue-green ocean water.

On the other hand, construction of the sewage treatment plant, while solving one problem, created another. One which we are still grappling with today.

Some say the construction of the Wastewater Treatment Plant on Virginia Key hastened the beginning of environmental degradation of the island, along with the decision to use Duck Lake and the interior land as a unlined dump (now closed), which at one point, received sewage sludge.

And the sewage (now treated) and emerging as “effluent” is still dumped into the water - this time a mile out to sea.

The pollution is out there. Still.





Resources:
http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/groups/mrc/river3.htm

Hands Across the Sand Saturday: People Power to Save Virginia Key (and Florida’s) Coastline from Gulf Oil

Florida’s marshes, wetlands and estuaries will have priority in any Gulf Oil spill prevention measures, according to Governor Charlie Crist because they are the most vulnerable and hardest to clean. That should put Virginia Key’s 700-acre Bill Sadowski Critical Wildlife Area at the forefront of local efforts.

Although you wouldn’t know it from looking at Miami-Dade County’s Environmental Resources Management Department website, which offers scant information on the County’s plans. The County does have a link for those who want to volunteer, in the event the Gulf Oil reaches our shores: http://www.iaminvolved.org/

Looks like it will be up to people to get organized. Taking photos to document current conditions is one way. Getting informed (check out the resource web sites below) is another.

So is: Holding hands across the sand in solidarity (and protest).

Saturday, June 26, you’ll get a chance to join an international movement at the Hands Across the Sand events - from “Dog Beach” on Virginia Key to in front of BP’s London headquarters - to “Help say NO to offshore drilling and Yes to clean energy.”
The Big Event in Miami Dade County - sponsored by 1 Sky, Sierra Club, Greenpeace, Surfrider Foundation, ECOMB, Environment Florida and the Urban Paradise Guild - takes place from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at 5th Street, (on the sand), South Beach. www.handsacrossthesanemiami.com

The Dolphin Foundation (www.savethedolphins.org) is hosting an event on Virginia Key at the “Dog Beach,” one of many thoughtout South Florida. More info: contact@thedolphinfoundation.org, (305) 305-8212.

Photo Project: Tropical Seike photo project is collecting photos of shorelines to document existing conditions. The photo-baseline project will collect images of our beaches, estauries, and harbors before and after the BP-Deepwater Horizon oil/tar arrives. Include the name of the specific site and date. The project site is: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tropical-Selkie-gathering-the-ocean-tribes/231034041891?ref=mf

Other web sites/resources:
http://www.miamidade.gov/oem/deepwaterhorizon.asp (not too helpful right now, but they promise to keep us posted).
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/deepwaterhorizon/default.htm
http://www.thegovmonitor.com/world_news/united_states/florida-outlines-bp-gulf-oil-spill-response-for-june-20-2010-33924.html
http://www.handsacrossthesand.com/

Miami Seaplanes on Virginia Key Named Best Not-So-Cheap Thrill

Miami New Times singles out Virginia Key’s Miami Seaplane rides as the “Best Not-So-Cheap Thrill” in its 2010 “Best of Miami” diversions.

The “airport” is on the north side of the Rickenbacker Causeway and the runway is Biscayne Bay.

“The most affordable trip is the $150 skyline tour, where you’ll get a bird’s eye view of downtown Miami,” states the mini-article in the current edition of the alternative weekly.

The $225 “Ultimate Miami and Beaches Seaplane Tour” seems like the most eco-centric, with promises of seeing marine life -- red star fishes, sting rays, dolphins, manatees and sharks -- while flying low over the crystal clear waters of Biscayne Bay.

For free I say there’s also a thrill just sitting on the shoreline watching the sea planes take off and land.

Resources:
http://www.miamiseaplane.com/home.htm
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/bestof/2010/award/best-not-so-cheap-thrill-2305441/

Virginia Key Master Plan Public Meetings in July

A new (and hopefully improved) Virginia Key Master Plan is scheduled to make the rounds of City advisory boards beginning July 13 and culminating with the Miami City Commission July 22, 2010, according to Luciana Gonzalez at the City’s planning department.

One caveat: it’s only a “tentative” schedule:
 
•     July 13, 2010- Waterfront Advisory Board
•     July 15, 2010- Parks Advisory Board
•     July 21, 2010- Planning Zoning and Appeals Board
•     July 22, 2010- City Commission
  

No telling what the new proposed Virginia Key Master Plan looks like just yet - nothing has been posted on any website and there have been no public hearings, workshops or information meetings since the City of Miami Commission deferred approval of the last plan in October 2009.

At the time, the City Commission said they wanted to defer approval of the plan to give more time for public input.

Hopefully, the new proposal will be posted on the City's website before it gets to the Waterfront Advisory Board to give the public - which, after all, owns Virginia Key, - a chance to see it and the time to prepare constructive comments.

Here's what the City of Miami Planning Department has posted on its Virginia Key site to date:

The City of Miami is seeking to implement a master planning process that studies Virginia Key in its entirety. It is the Master Plan’s intent to develop meaningful waterfront and public open space areas; offer policies for the use, development, and management of land; the protection and enhancement of natural resources while providing the necessary infrastructure and traffic flow to serve future improvements to the island.

The City’s population growth, coupled with current urban development trends and demands for waterfront access and recreation has created the need for a comprehensive master plan study. The proposed Virginia Key Master Plan will emphasize the opportunities for mixed-use waterfront development, integrate and preserve the historic Virginia Key Beach Park, as well as make recommendations for future island wide improvements and protection of remaining public beaches, parks, and conservation areas.

The City is directing all questions -- (WHAT IS THE PLAN? comes to mind) -- to the Planning Department, email: planning@ci.miami.fl.us or Fax (305) 416-2156 or P.O. Box 330708, Miami, FL 331233.



Resources:
http://ci.miami.fl.us/planning/pages/master_plans/VKey.asp
http://www.virginiakeymasterplan.com/ (website created by EDSA, the City of Miami’s consultant on Virginia Key)