On any given weekend morning cyclists outnumber motorists on the Rickenbacker Causeway. Yet thousands of cyclists are relegated to the bike lane/shoulder/bus stop (or whatever you want to call it) of the roadway while dozens of cars whiz by in excess of 60mph. It’s about time we close a lane of traffic for cyclists on the Rickenbacker Causeway. I see no good reason why we can’t close a lane in each direction from 6:00am-11:00 am on Sunday mornings, when vehicular traffic is very light and cyclist traffic is at its peak.
The recent crackdown on bicyclists is just a game of politics and the Miami Dade Police Department is caught in the middle. The last thing the MDPD wants to do is crackdown on cyclists or speeding motorists. They have far more important things to do. But unfortunately we still have a poorly designed Rickenbacker Causeway that encourages speeding. We also lack the political will or leadership to actually make any short term tangible improvements to the Rickenbacker Causeway. Instead we continue to play car vs. bike politics and wait until the next cyclist is killed.
Please send Commissioner Carlos Gimenez an email and let him know that you would like to see a ciclovia on the Rickenbacker Causeway every Sunday morning.
6 Responses to Time to stop playing politics on the Rickenbacker Causeway, every Sunday should be a ciclovia on the Rickenbacker.
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Great idea.
Also, Metrorail is set to get new cars soon. Does anyone know if they’ve thought of having a special car on each train specially outfitted for bike storage? I was on the southern part of Metrorail last weekend and it was packed with bicycles. I think bikes+transit is our future. I wonder if Miami Dade transit has thought of it.
I agree, this rule relegating bikes to the last car has a definite downside. It’s supposed to minimize conflicts with people on the station stairs and platforms, but it doesn’t work so well at busy times of day. Light on the horizon: When Miami-Dade Transit ordered the new cars, about four years ago, all were to include bike hangars. I’ll need to inquire whether the order remained that way.
I definitely agree, I’ve been thinking about this my self for a while. But I think it should be Saturday and Sunday, heck also weekdays until 7:30 too! You now this is a five mile road with almost no traffic lights, if they were to close one lane at low usage times for cyclists, there would not be an impact to motorists, it’s more mental than anything. Equally, just like when on a green light, drivers accelerate to the speed limit just to brake hard and wait at the next red. Just my 2 cents…
[...] Commissioner Gimenez is not interested in closing any traffic lanes/ temporarily expanding the bike lane to overlap traffic lanes/separate either side of the Rick into a bike-only section with cones on [...]
Cyclist are bullies and should be lucky to have their own cycle lane. The law is stupid in stating that cyclists have the same rights as motorists. Well they never obey the law at all! I’ve seen cyclists run through stop signs, red light and never yield to traffic. These arrogant people should stay off the road and back to the sidewalks, or not ride at all.
Who invited Cager Bill?