Welcome to Citizens for Park Improvement
Our mission is to advance parks, recreation, and environmental conservation efforts on the barrier islands of Virginia Key and Key Biscayne that enhance the quality of life for all residents in Miami-Dade County. Our vision of the future for Miami-Dade County is to realize the full power of parks, recreation, and open spaces in creating a better life for all residents by building safe, healthy, and resilient communities.
Citizens for Park Improvement is a committed, non-profit organization founded with the purpose of addressing significant deficiencies in public safety, infrastructure, parks, and open spaces along the Rickenbacker Causeway/Crandon Boulevard corridor, covering the islands of Virginia Key and Key Biscayne.
Rickenbacker & Bear Cut Bridges
The Rickenbacker Causeway was originally constructed in 1940 as a result of an agreement between Miami-Dade County and the Matheson family, which owned the majority of the island of Key Biscayne at that point.
From the outset, the Rickenbacker Causeway has been a toll road, which has enabled it to pay for itself. The Causeway is still self sufficient, but has had some structural problems arise.
Although there were significant improvements made to the William M. Powell Bridge in 1985, the Bear Cut Bridge did not receive the same treatment. The bridge consists of two separate bridges – one that is 70 years old and the other that is 30 years old.
On January 23, 2013, the County Commission adopted an “emergency” ordinance calling for a $31 million “rehabilitation” of the Causeway’s West and Bear Cut Bridges.
Cycling, Running, Walking
The Causeway is not just roads and bridges. It is an attraction for people who want to enjoy the outdoors in a spectacular place, safely doing the things that bring happiness and good health. Facilities used for both cars and personal recreation must be safe and efficient for both. The Causeway should become a safe linear park as well as a road and bridge system to efficiently connect two islands to the mainland.
About Crandon Park
Crandon Park is one of Miami-Dade County’s seven Heritage Parks. It is situated on the barrier island of Key Biscayne and encompasses 975 acres. Visitors access the Park via Rickenbacker Causeway, and then along Crandon Boulevard, which runs through its center.
The Park’s public marina, golf course, beach, cabanas and adjacent picnic areas serve as its primary recreational attractions, while the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Biscayne Nature Center provides educational programs for children and visitors.
Crandon Park’s extensive nature preserves, which exhibit a spectrum of ecologies from upland hammock to mangroves, qualify the Park as a valued environmental asset and a precious habitat for native flora and fauna.
The Park still operates under the guidelines set by the current Master Plan, co-authored by Artemas P. Richardson of The Olmsted Office, Charles W. Pezoldt of Miami-Dade County and Bruce C. Matheson of the Matheson Family.
Crandon Park: A Call for Change
Purpose
In 2019, Citizens for Park Improvement approached the landscape architecture firm West 8 to conduct an objective preliminary research and analysis of the Park with the advisory assistance of Charles Birnbaum, founder and CEO of the Cultural Landscape Foundation. The study team sought to answer the following questions:
- What is the current physical and operational condition of Crandon Park?
- How can the Park’s site, facilities and governance be improved?
Rickenbacker Design Competition
The Rickenbacker Causeway is in a state of disrepair, with bridges showing more than the signs of usual wear. A structural foundation analysis from a decade ago revealed that the Bear Cut Bridge wouldn’t withstand wind speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour.
These public safety concerns, along with the need to address sea level rise and storm surge have created an urgency, but also an opportunity.
This is where you come in. We’re hosting a design build competition to reimagine the Rickenbacker Causeway.
Your ideas could shape the future, making it safer for all users, efficient for commuting, and resilient against storms and flooding so that extreme weather events don’t disrupt traffic and emergency response.
Bicycle Safety from the Toll to Key Biscayne
Constructed during an era dominated by automobiles, Crandon Park allocated substantial acreage to sprawling parking lots and an excessive network of roads. Many of these roads lead to uninspiring destinations.
In 1993, Miami-Dade County enlisted The Olmstead Office to craft a comprehensive master plan for Crandon Park. As a result, Artemis Richardson presented the inaugural version, named “Crandon Park for the Twenty-First Century,” introducing a host of creative enhancements designed to unify the fragmented aspects of the park. These improvements included the development of a more cohesive interpark pedestrian and bicycle pathway network as a solution to reduce the friction between cars and pedestrians, a priority that remains today.
What Can We Do
The Causeway and Crandon Park raise common concerns and present common opportunities. Both need help. In the case of the Causeway the problems are critical and immediate. In the case of Crandon Park, the problem is a wasted environmental and cultural public asset. What could be one of the finest public parks in the world consists of miles of a beautiful beach, hidden by acres of empty asphalt parking lots, a tired golf course that is slipping below sea level and a tennis facility built for a professional tournament that left years ago.
Crandon Park, like Virginia Key, the Village of Key Biscayne and Cape Florida State Park depend on the existence of the Causeway for safe and efficient access and egress. “Drive time” on the Causeway is not so much 8 to 6 but is very much every weekend, holiday, special event and great weather day.
Both cry out for public driven solutions built on intelligent plans that can be implemented with identified revenue sources. Which is where Citizens for Park Improvement seeks to be heard. We want to create a process where public driven planning rules the day. In the following pages we discuss how that public process will work.