Rickenbacker Conceptual Design Competition

Citizens for Park Improvement is launching a competition for professional groups to present conceptual designs for a new Causeway from the beginning to the end — from US1 through the barrier islands of Virginia Key and Key Biscayne. The designs will be judged by a panel of transportation, park and financial professionals. The winning proposal will receive a cash prize from CPI, and will also receive support from CPI and its partners and constituents if the winning design is incorporated into an unsolicited proposal or RFP response to the County in connection with the overhaul of the Rickenbacker Causeway.

To avoid having preconceived standards dictate the outcome, CPI has only set forth certain broad standards for the evaluation of submitted designs. Elements of the evaluation will be the extent to which a design:

• Is the result of work inclusive of all stakeholders: recreational, residential, educational and economic interests on the islands of Virginia Key and Key Biscayne;
• Balances the interests of drivers and recreational users;
• Provides a safe linear park for cyclists and pedestrians with grade separation;
• Provides more open spaces by elevating the roadway, creating opportunities for an underline or art in public places;
• Anticipates a considerably greater demand for recreational and commercial use of the islands of Virginia Key and Key Biscayne addresses and provides solutions for the ingress/egress problems that will arise from that increased use;
• Allows improvements in the public recreational use of the islands of Virginia Key and Key Biscayne;
• Includes an elevated, sea-level resilient Bear Cut bridge, whose replacement is long overdue;
• Addresses storm conditions and sea level rise; incorporates world-class aesthetics – the Causeway should be spectacular.

The Rickenbacker Conceptual Design Competition runs April 15, 2024 to September 1, 2024.

From US1 through Virginia Key to Key Biscayne

One must view the Causeway from where it begins – at US1 and I-95 — to where it ends — at the Village of Key Biscayne. Each segment of the Causeway must be examined independently and as part of the whole with the goal of maximizing public access, providing safe and enjoyable access for cyclists and pedestrians, and assuring that large uses in one area do not shut down everyone else’s access.

While the cost of a great plan may seem large, one must view that cost through the lens of value created and protected. The land on islands of Virginia Key and Key Biscayne, both public and private, is enormously valuable in both economic terms and societal value. The intrinsic worth of the parks to a large urban population is beyond measure. Short-sighted, penny-pinching proposals that address only short term problems should be avoided.

After years of neglect, the County has finally commissioned studies addressing the Causeway, its current condition and its needs. Is that enough or should the County’s process of planning for an immediate future be supplemented by a citizen-driven undertaking to present a design for a new Causeway from its beginning until its end? With history as our guide, the problem is too serious to assume that the County’s internal mechanisms will produce a product that sees and addresses both the future and the opportunities that exist. We believe a citizen-driven planning process would provide enormous benefit to what the County is doing as it will provide at the very least a standard against which other plans would be measured. Properly implemented, it could engage a large part of the community into the planning process.

Submit Your Design

The Rickenbacker Design Competition is accepting submissions from April 15, 2024 to September 1, 2024.