Fixing One of Florida’s Deadly Roads With a Protected Bikeway

Architect and avid cyclist Bernard Zyscovich has proposed such an infrastructure upgrade in Miami-Dade, Florida that would convert a killer expressway into a cycle super highway.

Rickenbacker Causeway -- linking Miami to Key Biscayne -- currently holds three car lanes in each direction, but Zyscovich’s plan would convert the divided highway to two lanes for automobile traffic and a landscape-buffered lane for cyclists and pedestrians. Hardwood trees and bushes that would be planted along the cycle track would increase safety by separating the various modes of transportation.

Zyscovich suggested a preliminary project using plastic poles to separate the lanes, which mimics a plan implemented on I-95. The full project proposal would cost approximately $20 to $30 million along the entire stretch of Rickenbacker Causeway, however, there is currently no official backing for the project.

Separating automobiles from other modes of vulnerable transportation has gained grassroots support in Florida. According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, Florida has a record of having the highest number of fatal bicycle crashes of any state. Further, Miami Dade County has one of the highest numbers of bicycle fatalities, which was highlighted by national news when the 44-year-old cyclist Aaron Cohen was struck and killed by a motorist.