Hundreds trying to leave Key Biscayne stranded in their cars for hours. What happened?

Holding her 10-month-old baby, Tamara Tubic recounted how she and her family — including her 2-year-old — made the roughly 25 minute drive from Edgewater to spend Sunday in Key Biscayne.

Their trip was going according to plan, until it was time to leave, and Tubic noticed that traffic was unusually heavy.

Since her astute observation, the family has been stuck on the island’s only roadway for more than two hours, yet remained far from home.

Tubic’s family was one of the hundreds of visitors whose cars formed a sea of red along the Rickenbacker Causeway as traffic stood at a standstill for hours due to construction-related road closures Sunday night.

Some families — tired of idly sitting in their vehicles — even decided to camp out on the sidewalks.

Sunday was the first night the Rickenbacker Causeway’s flyover bridge that connects westbound traffic to South Dixie Highway and I-95 north was closed, according to the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). It’s scheduled to remain shut down for two months while transportation officials restore concrete pavement.

As commuters expressed their dismay, Key Biscayne and Miami officials weighed in — blaming FDOT for the ensuing chaos.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez underscored the city wasn’t involved in the closure but is “doing everything we can do to flush the traffic out.”

Key Biscayne Mayor Joe Rasco, too, had plenty to say about the disarray in a statement he posted on Instagram.

“Although we stressed to our partners at FDOT that a total closure of the ramps would be a serious problem, we were assured it had been studied and was under control,” he said. “Clearly, it is not.”

As of early Monday morning, a petition launched the day prior had already garnered more than 1,675 signatures calling for the pavement rehabilitation project to be delayed until June when schools are out for the summer.

Detours to navigate the closure

If you’re driving on the Rickenbacker Causeway and want to travel south on U.S. 1/South Dixie Highway:

▪ Merge left at the fork toward Coconut Grove/Brickell Avenue

▪ Make a left turn onto South Miami Avenue

▪ Make a right turn onto U.S. 1/South Dixie Highway

If you’re on the Rickenbacker Causeway and want to go north on State Road 9 or I-95:

▪ Merge left at the fork toward Coconut Grove/Brickell Avenue

▪ Continue driving west onto Southwest 26th Road

▪ Turn right at the bend on Southwest 26th Road, then continue driving toward 25th Road

▪ Take the I-95 north ramp from Southwest 25th Road