The Shoreline
Virginia Key, FL
The Shoreline
Project Type: Urban Design + Visioning
Project Status: Ongoing
Site Area: 1.5 Mi
Team: Plusurbia Design
The Shoreline, a concept study to reimagine the Rickenbacker Causeway, addresses a vital corridor currently carrying over 10 million vehicles per year. What should be a scenic, safe gateway to Key Biscayne and Miami’s waterfronts has instead become a high-speed, high-risk thoroughfare, where cyclists and pedestrians must navigate alongside vehicles traveling over 45 mph. The Shoreline proposes a bold but achievable solution: elevate regional through-traffic onto a 30-foot viaduct, and transform the surface level into a world-class linear waterfront park that prioritizes safety, ecology, and public access.
Approximately 28,000 vehicle trips per day pass through Virginia Key to and from Key Biscayne. By rerouting this traffic onto the elevated viaduct, The Shoreline removes the primary source of congestion, allowing regional traffic to flow freely while reclaiming the surface for safer, slower, multimodal use. The ground level will be dedicated to local access, protected bike lanes, pedestrian promenades, and a variety of public space improvements inspired by The Underline’s successful model. At the same time, the plan integrates natural infrastructure, such as native dune systems, coastal vegetation, and living shorelines, to restore ecological function, reduce erosion, and buffer the corridor from sea-level rise and storm surge.
Conceived by Plusurbia Design, The Shoreline is now advancing into a feasibility study to refine and evaluate the proposal’s technical and operational potential. Early-stage collaboration with national engineering firm HDR has helped shape the vision and inform the next steps in analysis. With a proposed 160% expansion of the public shoreline, layered coastal-resilience strategies, and improved access to Crandon Park and the regional greenway system, The Shoreline represents a transformative opportunity not only to improve mobility but also to ensure the corridor’s long-term viability for vehicles, pedestrians, and nature alike.
