Ultra Gridlock in Wee Hours

Police officers direct concertgoers back to their Uber car as traffic backs up on the Rickebacker Causeway during the Ultra Music Festival on Virgina Key, March 29, 2019 (Key News/Tony Winton

Ultra Music Festival officials say they’re changing the traffic plan for tonight’s concert as a result of large unexpected pedestrian crowds that caused a temporary shutdown of the Rickenbacker Causeway in the wee hours of Saturday morning.

“We are going to do better,” said Ray Martinez, the festival’s head of security. He said police ordered the shutdown of the causeway when thousands of concertgoers spilled into the main roadway when the pedestrian path exceeded capacity.

“It was a snowball effect and traffic really backed up,” Martinez said.

The main change will be earlier staging of buses to accommodate fans wanting to leave early and to keep one outbound lane open at 1 a.m. About 55,000 fans were at the concert Friday, Martinez said.

Social media was filled with images of concertgoers walking home from Virginia Key, with some mocking the event using the hashtag #FyreFestival2, a reference to the botched 2017 Fyre Festival in the Bahamas. On Twitter, the hashtag was “trending,” indicating it was one of the top hashtags of the day.

In other news:

-Martinez had no information on the cause of a small brush fire that started near the Marine Stadium. The fire was put out quickly, said Capt. Ignatius Carroll, a spokesman for the City of Miami Fire Rescue Department.

-Martinez acknowledged Uber and Lyft drivers contributed to some of the problems. Officers wrote many tickets to drivers who allowed passengers to jump out of cars before reaching the designated dropoff area.

-Martinez put the number of arrests “in the teens, a very low number.”

KEY BISCAYNE

A Key Biscayne Fire Rescue Truck moves through a police checkpoint during the first day of the Ultra Music Festival on Virginia Key, March 29, 2019 (Key News/Tony Winton)

In Key Biscayne, by contrast, Mayor Mike Davey said the Village’s preparedness planning paid off. Delays for most hours of the concert’s operation were moderate, he said. Fire Rescue Chief Eric Lang said there were three rescue runs and one transport to Mercy Hospital that went smoothly.

“The unified command is working very well,” Lang said.

Key Biscayne Chamber of Commerce Chair Dianne Regalado praised the traffic management, saying the experience was “better than expected.”

Jorge Gonzalez, the owner of The Golden Hog, said his market did see a decline in business even though there were no problems operating. He said he wasn’t sure whether slower volume was due to Ultra – or fewer customers because of the relocation of the Miami Open tennis tournament.