The Miami-Dade mayor’s desired request for proposals on the overhaul of both the Rickenbacker and Venetian causeways — a necessary step after getting an unsolicited proposal — could hit a snag Thursday. A number of commissioners and other stakeholders — including city officials in both Key Biscayne and Miami Beach — have questions and concerns.
The first is why were these city officials taken by surprise? Rickenbacker connects Miami mainland to Key Biscayne and the Venetian connects Miami to Miami Beach. Seems they should be in on the talks from the beginning.
A good second is why are the two causeways being treated in the same proposal when they are wildly different? The Venetian is not as wide, made in part from materials which came from the dredging of Biscayne Bay, has two bascule bridges and is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. It’s mostly residential and doesn’t have a tenth of the traffic that the Rickenbacker gets.
Meanwhile, the Rickenbacker has marinas, recreational concessions, restaurants, the Miami Seaquarium and the Miami Marine Stadium on its path, as well as MAST Academy, a public magnet school that draws students from all over the county, and a federal facility run by the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration.
Is the only thing they have in common cycling accidents?
Know more: ‘Secret’ plan for Rickenbacker reboot makes Miami-Dade mayor seek bids
Architect Bernard Zyscovich really only wants to do the Rickenbacker. He’s been pitching it since at least 2014. That’s what Plan Z Miami, in the works since at least 2017, is all about. Who shoved the Venetian Causeway down his throat?
And the $64,000 question: How much will this cost? Who’s going to pay for it? In other words, how much will tolls increase?
That’s going to be Commissioner Rebeca Sosa‘s clarion call — although she’s really just super mad at Mayor Daniella Levine Cava for firing Aviation Director Lester Sola (more on that later) and wants to throw shade.
Commissioner Raquel Regalado, whose district includes Rickenbacker, says she understands the need has been there for years, but she might pull the item to give Key Biscayne officials more time to weigh in.
“We do need to have a conversation about infrastructure. But they need to consider residents and traffic and the events that are hosted on Key Biscayne,” Regalado told Ladra, referring to the number one issue on the key — getting in and out easily.
Yet while there are some who want to slow the process down to get some answers, there are others who say that this has been in the planning stages for far too long already, both causeways are in desperate need of repairs and, especially in the case of Rickenbacker — an infamous death trap for cyclists — design changes. So they wanna fast track it. Any new proposals have to be submitted within 90 days. Ninety days!
“The competitive solicitation will instruct the respondents to propose a financially feasible program for the design, build, finance, maintenance, and long-term operations of the Rickenbacker and Venetian Causeways, and any recommendation for award brought before the Board will have a comprehensive analysis of the fiscal impact and funding source for the contract at that time. Funding necessary for design, build, finance, maintenance, and long-term operations of the Rickenbacker and Venetian Causeways will be the sole responsibility of the proposer,” reads the mayor’s memo.
Firms are being set up to fail.
Zyscovich and his partners certainly had more than 90 days to prepare their secret plan. And while it’s the worst kept secret in the county, there are still no public documents or details, which, of course, is where the devil lives. They’ve been cooking this up behind closed doors for much longer. Ladra has heard there are non-disclosure agreements signed last year.
Who would spend three months and hundreds of thousands of dollars to present a proposal when they know that Zyscovich et al, which have been getting feedback from the county for months on what to propose, has the job already? And why do we do this shit backwards? Why doesn’t the county define the project first — the scope of work, the intended uses, the budget — and then go out to bid, rather than wait for a pitch and then ask other parties to try to top it so it looks like a competitive process.
Know more: Key Biscayne, activists watch closely as Boat Show begins
It just doesn’t sound like a good way to do business.
Ladra got a little pushback after the first Political Cortadito article on this backroom deal, and from folks I respect. After all, it has been embraced by the cycling, resiliency and mass transit communities. One hard working transit advocate gave me pau pau on Twitter. Said the project was hardly secret because it has a website. But the website is nothing more than some fancy propaganda with before pictures and after artist renditions.
“Plan Z for Miami seeks to transform this outdated, dangerous, single-use infrastructure into a world class, multi-modal recreational asset that promotes physical activity, health and well-being within a natural and safe environment. The concept for PLAN Z FOR MIAMI was generated in response to the recurring deaths of cyclists on the Rickenbacker Causeway,” it states on the “about us” page.
Then why is the Venetian lumped in?
“By reimagining Rickenbacker Causeway into Rickenbacker Parkway, a safe, lively, multi-purpose urban park with twenty acres of new waterfront space will be created allowing a future bridge replacement and protecting the park from rising sea levels,” it goes on to say.
Twenty acres of new waterfront space? Recreational uses? A wide, elevated bicycle path? A viewing platform? A connection to the Underline? Who in their right mind would be against that? Sign me up!
He also said that Plan Z Miami is advocated by a non-profit that can’t donate to political campaigns and therefore is not playing the quid pro quo game. I laughed so hard I peed a little. Anybody can form a non-profit. And the founders, ambassadors and advisors of Plan Z Miami include a bunch of do-gooders like Bruce Matheson, Tony Garcia and Sue Kawelersky.
But who are the contractors? Who are the engineers and designers and traffic consultants and landscapers? How much is Manny Diaz getting for some palm trees? Who is pouring the concrete?
All these people can and generally do make political donations from their business entities — and their husbands or wives and out-of-town cousins.
There’s a lot of ka-ching to go around with this project.
The people who have been meeting with commissioners and county staffers, getting feedback and guidance on their pitch for months — or at least since February when they registered to lobby — include lobbyists Al Dotson and Brian May, serial campaign donors and veteran fundraisers.
And who knows how many lobbyists haven’t registered?
And how much is it going to cost Pepe Taxpayer to get to El Farrito beach?
Ladra doesn’t have an issue with the project itself. It looks beautiful and would be a signature thoroughfare for our community. It would make cycling safer and provide us with 20 new acres of waterfront space!
What’s not to like?
The process. It’s not transparent. It’s not truly competitive. It’s not right.
More questions than answers on makeovers for Rickenbacker, Venetian added by Ladra on
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