An important community conversation has restarted following the untimely death of cyclist Aaron Cohen on the Rickenbacker Causeway. Let’s keep it going at the SafeStreets Miami Forum on Wednesday, March 7, at the O Cinema in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood. The address is 90 NW 29th St. and the meeting will start at 7 p.m. There will be attended bicycle parking.
At today’s meeting sponsored by Miami-Dade County Commissioner Xavier Suarez, scores of people crammed into the County Hall press room heard county and City of Miami police brass announce renewed attention to speed enforcement on the causeway. Notably, the county is adding patrols during the “straggling home” hours when driving under the influence is so common. Along with their Key Biscayne counterparts, the agencies will study results and report in April on how the stepped-up enforcement is working.
Last night, the county Bicycle-Pedestrian Advisory Committee pushed back at two of three proposals presented by traffic engineer Jeff Cohen of the public works department. Instead of a proposed six speed zones, stepping up from 30 mph to 45 and back down to 30, the committee called for a uniform 35 mph speed limit on the entire causeway. And the committee balked at a proposal for applying white ceramic speed bumps along a new double white line between the bike lane and the motor lanes on the two causeway bridges. The discs would be slippery when wet, and thus a hazard to cyclists, a unanimous committee felt. Committee advice is forwarded to the Metropolitan Planning Organization, which sometimes accepts it.
The forum on March 7 will (a) present information about current plans to improve the safety of streets in Miami-Dade County and (b) provide an opportunity for members of the public to make comments and ask questions of a panel of relevant elected officials and decision makers.
If you have questions or comments, please send them to safestreetsmiami@gmail.com.
