The controversy is growing about lighting on the jetties marking Government Cut in Miami after a crash last week killed three people and seriously injured a fourth when their 32-foot center console hit the north jetty at 9:20 at night. The two jetties marking the entrance to the cut are not lighted, although they are clearly marked on charts.
After the latest crash, Fabiola Santiago wrote an opinion story in the Miami Herald with the headline, How Many More Boaters Must Die Before We Properly Light Treacherous Government Cut? “This is a story of deaths foretold,” she wrote.
The crash last week was at the same place where Miami Marlins pitcher José Fernandez crashed his center console in 2016, also at night, killing him and his two friends on board. He was found to be legally intoxicated at the time. In a review of that crash, and of lighting in Government Cut, the Coast Guard said that “external factors,” including speed, had caused the accident.
Now city officials are urging the Coast Guard to look at the cut’s lighting once more. Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez called the jetties “a serious threat to boaters,” and urged the Coast Guard to light them as well as the breakwaters leading into Haulover Inlet, farther north.
A long-time boater, Gimenez said the jetties are easy to miss. “I’ve been out there at night,” he said. “You can’t see them.” Indeed at high tide the end of the north jetty can slip below the surface; at night, the unlighted rocks on the jetty are difficult to see.
The Miami Beach City Commission passed a resolution urging the Coast Guard to study how it can make the jetties more visible. It was concerned about the north and south jetties delineating Government Cut itself, as well as another jetty off Fisher Island that runs south of the cut.
In addition to the Government Cut problem, Miami officials are worried about safety conditions around Monument Island, which is also called Flagler Memorial Island, near the Venetian Causeway. It’s a popular spot for tour boats, recreational boats and jet skiers, and has turned into something of a party destination. “This has become a bar scene, an entertainment district on the water,” one official said.
There’s a 35-mph speed limit around the island, but the mayor is calling for new restrictions. Residents complain about jet skiers crashing into their docks, and there have been some serious injuries there lately. Read more:
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/miami-beach/article229632664.html
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/fabiola-santiago/article229543534.html
