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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