January 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 38

MIAMI - DADE
to create a separated, partly elevated
bicycle and pedestrian pathway
that would safely connect Miami's
mainland
to
the
Causeway. Over the years, Plan Z
has evolved to incorporate additional
elements that would transform
the Rickenbacker Causeway from
its
outdated,
dangerous,
Rickenbacker
singleuse
infrastructure into a world
class, multi-modal transportation
and recreation asset that promotes
equitable public access, health and
well-being, coastal resilience, and
environmental protection.
For more than 10 years, Zyscovich
has been on a pro-bono
journey that included a public engagement
process where community
members and elected officials
learned more about Plan Z and
why Miami needed a plan that addressed
the critical mobility issues
it could no longer run away from.
Despite the overwhelming community
support and excitement Plan
Z spurred, these conversations also
The Rickenbacker Causeway is Miami-Dade's
most popular recreation corridor, attracting
hundreds of thousands of pedestrians,
joggers, walkers and cyclists each year.
brought to light the challenges the
plan needed to overcome before
becoming a viable public infrastructure
project. Namely, who was
going to pay for it?
The State of Florida and MiamiDade
County have long encouraged
P3s through business-friendly
statutes designed to incentivize the
use of private funding for public
infrastructure projects. Traditionally,
public agencies have paid for
road, park, sewer system, airport
and seaport improvements by either
raising taxes or issuing bonds.
As political sentiment changed
and budgets tightened during The
Great Recession of 2007, public
officials have rejected raising taxes,
issuing bonds or increasing fees
to pay for infrastructure projects.
This dilemma has opened a door
for P3s to come in and help see
through critical projects.
Understanding the
benefits of
P3s, Zyscovich formed a team to
create the Plan Z Consortium.
The consortium submitted an
unsolicited proposal - Florida's
state
statutes allow entities
to submit privately-funded
public infrastructure proposals to
local governments - to MiamiDade
County. The proposal
outlined how the Plan Z
Consortium would fund, design,
build, maintain and operate the
Rickenbacker Causeway while
building the signature Plan Z
bicycle highway, replacing the
vulnerable Bear Cut Bridge,
elevating the causeway to meet its
climate-resilience objectives, and
developing a new 20-acre bayfront
park within the causeway's right
of way.
Miami-Dade County also recognized
the importance of this P3
project and launched a Request for
Proposal (RFP) process to address
the critical infrastructure needs
facing
the Rickenbacker Causeway.
Miami-Dade assembled a
team
of
county
transportation,
38 Parks & Recreation |
J ANUAR Y 2 0 22 | PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
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January 2022 - Parks & Recreation

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