The installation of concrete barriers to form a safe bicycle zone, separating the breakdown lane from traffic lanes on both the MacArthur and Julia Tuttle causeways is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL TO THE VERY SURVIVAL of Miami-Dade cyclists. Without these barriers, there will be more deaths, period.

• With the closing of the Venetian Causeway, cycling traffic will increase exponentially, not to mention vehicle traffic, on both the MacArthur and Julia Tuttle causeways.
• Miami is the deadliest urban area for bicyclists in the nation’s deadliest state [15 Miami-Dade deaths in 2014 alone] Recent case in point is the late April 2015 accident on the Julia Tuttle Causeway where the cyclist was killed - ejected over the bridge guardrail into Biscayne Bay as a car swerved to avoid hitting another vehicle. Barriers would have very likely prevented his death.
• The fact that the Florida Department of Transportation and Miami-Dade County have not been willing to build adequate and safe bike passage on the Rickenbacker, MacArthur and Julia Tuttle causeways in the wake of multiple cyclist deaths is beyond unconscionable.

Excerpts from the May 26th, 2015 article in the Miami New Times:  “VENETIAN CAUSEWAY CLOSING COULD SPELL MORE BICYCLE DEATHS.” - For Miami, the deadliest urban area for bicyclists in the nation’s deadliest state, Vasquez’s death was only the latest in a string of cyclist casualties. But the next nine months could pose the biggest risk yet: On June 1, the county will shut down the Venetian Causeway for a nine-month, $12.4 million renovation.

In 2014, 15 bicyclists were killed while riding in Miami-Dade and nearly 1,000 were involved in crashes, according to data compiled by Fort Myers’ News-Press. Both numbers were by far the highest among all counties in Florida — a state that has often ranked as the deadliest in the country for bicyclists.

“Oh my God,” says Maria Luisa de Jesus Hoover, a local cycling organizer. “If the city doesn’t do anything now, it’s going to be a disaster.”

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/venetian-causeway-closing-could-spell-more-bicycle-deaths-7634081

“VENETIAN CAUSEWAY SET TO CLOSE FOR NINE MONTHS JUNE 1, STRANDING CYCLISTS.” - http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/venetian-causeway-set-to-close-for-nine-months-june-1-stranding-cyclists-7609644

Let us unite. Let us prevent more deaths. One strong, collective voice.