Advocates of making the streets of Miami Beach more bike- and pedestrian-friendly expressed shock and disappointment at a recent court ruling ordering the city to remove bike lanes and restore two-way vehicle traffic on Ocean Drive.

Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Beatrice Butchko Sanchez handed down the order earlier this month in a lawsuit filed by the Clevelander Hotel, which alleged that it had suffered financially after the city began limiting and reconfiguring traffic on Ocean Drive in 2020. Currently, the street has a one-way south-bound lane, bike lanes and a plaza for pedestrians.

Butchko Sanchez concluded that the current roadway configuration created public safety concerns and was put in place without proper permits from Miami-Dade County. She ordered that the street be reconfigured to two-way traffic, with all illegal barriers removed, by this week, but the deadline was extended to Jan. 31.