Bicycle Safety from the Toll to Key Biscayne, via the Rickenbacker
The Crandon Park for the Twenty-First Century master plan produced by Artemas Richardson of The Olmstead Office aimed to introduce a range of innovative enhancements to unify the fragmented park. One of the recommended improvements is the creation of a seamless interpark pedestrian and bicycle pathway network.
About Bicycling In Crandon Park
Built during an auto-driven age, Crandon Park dedicates acres of valuable protected upland areas to sprawling parking lots and an excessive number of roads, many of which lead to unremarkable destinations and create a hostile environment for pedestrians and cyclists.
Crandon Park today is overrun with vehicular connections and access. However, it fails to provide safe routes for pedestrians and cyclists.
Crandon Park is also accessible via a five-foot wide bike lane (6.1 mi long), completed in 2016. The bike lane is part of the 8.5-mile Rickenbacker Bike Trail, which runs from Downtown Miami to Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park. Currently, it runs down Crandon Boulevard directly adjacent to multiple lanes of cars traveling at 40 mph.
Safety Concerns for Bicyclists in Crandon Park
Although some stretches of the bike lane have a painted median between the bike and car lanes, the lack of modal separation raises safety concerns for cyclists.
There are no designated bike crossings between the east and west sides of Crandon Boulevard, making it challenging for bikers to cross over to amenities on either side, including the beach. There is concern about cyclists’ safety from oncoming vehicular traffic.
The U.S. reported 966 bicycle fatalities in 2021 per a comprehensive analysis of traffic accidents conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, This figure represents the highest number of bicycle-related deaths in the nation since 1975, highlighting a disconcerting upward trajectory in such fatalities since reaching a low of 623 in 2010.
Florida has firmly secured its position as the leader in per capita bicyclist fatalities nationwide, with 7.6 bicyclist deaths per one million residents, a rate more than double that of California, the former frontrunner. Bicyclists accounted for 4.9% of all traffic-related fatalities in Florida, resulting in 197 fatalities during the year 2021, marking a troubling increase of 27 deaths compared to the preceding year.
Learn more about bicycle accidents from Florida Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles
Recommendations
To satisfy contemporary values regarding best sustainability practices and standards for park safety, it is important to consider expanding the bicycle network, and separating high-speed bike traffic from leisure rides between Miami and the Village of Key Biscayne.
One immediate option could be to enhance the existing bike lane by creating a greater buffer from vehicular traffic through use of bollards or a green median. Another option would be to create a designated bike/walkway parallel to Crandon Boulevard on the west side.
By introducing greater safety measures for cyclists and pedestrians, while also streamlining vehicular circulation and parking, and articulating a hierarchy for bike and pedestrian networks, visitors will enjoy far greater opportunities for freedom of safe movement among the Park’s program areas.
