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Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava holds a virtual meeting tonight on the fate of the Rickenbacker Causeway, with indications building that the current privatization plan may be abandoned and restarted. 

Residents who wish to participate in the 6 p.m. session must register here.

Officially, the mayor is keeping two tracks open for the renovation project, which one estimate puts at almost $500 million. One track would be to further tinker with the current bidding process, in which rival firms have until March to submit plans. They would compete with a still-secret plan proposed by architect Bernard Zyscovich’s consortium. 

But last week, County Commissioner Raquel Regalado urged Levine Cava to simply start over, saying applying more “duct tape” won’t be optimal. The move is seen as significant because while the Causeway is a County asset, it’s also in her District 7. 

The Village of Key Biscayne is officially calling for the process to start afresh and focus on transportation and resiliency issues. Mayor Mike Davey had a meeting with Levine Cava recently and said he believes that message has been delivered. 

Levine Cava called tonight’s meeting after a “Value for Money” study was released by a consulting firm. The analysis also concluded that starting over would be optimal. It also found that a full privatization would best meet the County’s desired risk concerns — although it also stated costs might be lower with a traditional procurement approach. 

Editor-in-Chief

Tony Winton is the editor-in-chief of the Key Biscayne Independent and president of Miami Fourth Estate, Inc. He worked previously at The Associated Press for three decades winning multiple Edward R. Murrow awards. He was president of the News Media Guild, a journalism union, for 10 years. Born in Chicago, he is a graduate of Columbia University. His interests are photography and technology, sailing, cooking, and science fiction.

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Tony Winton is the editor-in-chief of the Key Biscayne Independent and president of Miami Fourth Estate, Inc. He worked previously at The Associated Press for three decades winning multiple Edward R. Murrow...