The grand, refurbished entrance to the Causeway, which as a local road is fairly well isolated from commuter or tourist traffic, and therefore is a great route to take when you don't want to hit traffic. This bridge has been restored to a level of splendor entirely worthy of those art-deco pillars.
I guess it would have gone faster if the drawbridge didn't interrupt the journey. It goes up twice hourly but doesn't stay up very long. Click on that last bit of media there to watch the bridge go down in hyperdrive. It actually took just over a minute to lower, not 15 seconds, and I can't talk that fast.
Past the bridge hut once the drawbridge has lowered and on to the toll plaza, all beautifully restored to their original glory. Well, that's the downside to going this way versus one of the congested but free causeways. The Venetian and Rickenbacker Causeways are both tolled by Miami-Dade County, which doesn't use the same electronic toll collecting system as any other agency - not Florida's Turnpike Enterprise, not Orange County, not even the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority! Florida is the only state I know of with at least four distinct toll collection systems (NJ's toll roads all use E-ZPass, for comparison, which only interacts with Florida's Turnpike Enterprise roads in this state).
Look quickly at this sign and tell me what you see. If you don't see it, look even quicker. If you still don't see it, I can't help you.
The Causeway crosses a second drawbridge to get into Miami Beach after serving all those fake (manmade and settled with multi-million-dollar homes) islands. I hope this drawbridge is coordinated with the one to the west so that no one has to stop twice.
Looking south at downtown Miami Beach and the MacArthur Causeway (FL A1A) entering it. That's the alternative that carries most of the traffic.
