Dear Mayor Suarez and Mayor Gimenez,
It was just a matter of time before it happened. On Sunday morning a cyclist was killed at the intersection of Arthur Lamb Road and Sewage Plant Road on Virginia Key by an on-duty police officer while driving his patrol car. This should come as a surprise to no one. There have been several serious crashes between cyclists and motor vehicles at this intersection in recent years. What has the City of Miami done to make this intersection safer? Nothing. How many more cyclists need to be killed or severely injured before the City of Miami takes steps to make this intersection safer?
It’s simply unfathomable that we allow this to happen, especially within a city park. This speaks volumes about the state of cycling infrastructure in Miami Dade County. If we’re unwilling to design the roads in our parks to prioritize safety and discourage speeding, the prognosis for the rest of our street through the county is not encouraging. Miami Dade County is the 14th most dangerous metropolitan area in the country for cyclists and pedestrians. What steps are we taking to make MDC the safest metropolitan area in the country for cyclists and pedestrians? This this is the questions we should be asking ourselves. We need leaders that embrace this vision for our community.
Cycling has exponentially increased during the past 3 months due to our current crisis. Failure to make cycling infrastructure safer will likely only result in more deaths. We can stay the course or we can start making safety a priority. The ball is in your court Gentlemen. We hope you guys step-up to the plate. How about we start by closing travel lanes on weekends so families can bike safely?
Regards,
Felipe