History of the MacArthur Causeway

The story of the County Causeway which began construction in 1915, but did not get completed until after World War I. It opened in 1920 and was renamed to the MacArthur Causeway in 1942.

Cover: MacArthur Causeway in 1959.

By the mid-1910s, some of the leaders of Miami and Miami Beach knew that the time would come when the region would outgrow the Collins Bridge, which was the only viaduct to join the two cities over Biscayne Bay. It was a privately-owned thoroughfare that charged each automobile a toll of 20 cents each direction to use the bridge. In order to accommodate the growth on both sides of the bay, these same leaders appealed to Dade County officials of the need for a second bridge.

It would take cooperation from several municipalities and a lot of patience to build the first publicly funded causeway. The county causeway, as it was originally referred, had its share of adversity, but it did finally open at the onset of a decade that would see both Miami and Miami Beach grow at an unprecedented rate. The bridge has changed names and has been updated several times during its 100-year history, but it still serves as a vital thoroughfare for a growing South Florida population.