Months after reducing speed limits due to a fatal cyclist crash on the Rickenbacker Causeway, county officials will implement a uniform speed of 40 miles per hour, Key Biscayne Mayor Mike Davey said Thursday. The move will take place by Oct. 27, he said.
Davey, who’d been pressing for a change, said he got the word from Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava after police and other officials determined 40 miles per hour was an appropriate speed.
“I’m happy we’re going to have a uniform speed,” Davey said. “Forty is a good compromise.”
In May, the county imposed 35 mile-per-hour speeds for a long stretch near MAST Academy and the Seaquarium after the deaths of cyclists Yaudys Vera and Ogniana Reyes, both from the Kendall area. The previous limit for much of the roadway had been 45 mph, and some residents balked at the lower speed as well as the number of changes back and forth from 35, to 40, to 45, and back to 40 again.
County Commissioner Raquel Regalado also had pushed for a uniform speed. “The best thing is to have consistency,” she said. “This is causing so much chaos and confusion.”
In addition to the speed changes, the county continues to look at improved barriers and separation between cyclists and motorists, with $500,000 in cycling safety spending in the recently-adopted 2023 budget.
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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 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.