By the Coral Gables Gazette editorial board

The Granada Golf Course is one of Coral Gables’ defining landscapes—a curving, tree-lined loop where neighbors walk their dogs, children ride bikes, and residents run in the shade of banyans older than the city itself. But in recent years, this idyllic setting has become a collision zone, where daily coexistence between cars, cyclists, joggers, and pedestrians teeters on the edge of disaster.

At its last meeting, the Coral Gables City Commission took a necessary step toward correcting that imbalance. Mayor Vince Lago and every commissioner—speaking with direct urgency—called for immediate movement toward designing a dedicated running and walking path around the course. It is the right call. And it is overdue.

There is no need for another tragedy to justify action. The facts are already intolerable. In May a black Mercedes veered off Greenway Drive and struck two women walking near the course. Both suffered traumatic brain injuries and multiple fractures. The man arrested in connection with the crash, Wilbert Cabrera Valdes, is now facing felony charges. It was not the first such incident. Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson reminded her colleagues that five years ago, a local professor was struck and killed by a cyclist while walking in the same area. Just this year, an architect was hit while walking on the grass.

This is an active design failure that plays out on public space every day.

For years, officials have debated how to respond. The core tension is familiar: a historic residential road, a public golf course, and a beloved pedestrian route all occupy the same physical footprint. In a city where space is beautiful but tight, every inch carries emotional and civic weight. But where compromise has been elusive, risk has crept forward—and the status quo has grown unsustainable.

That’s why Mayor Lago’s remarks cut through so clearly. “We are going to have a catastrophe,” he said. And then, with refreshing clarity: “This isn’t about inviting people here. They’re already here. Everybody wants to run in the Gables.”

He’s right. The growth in outdoor activity—fueled by lifestyle shifts, health awareness, and a cultural embrace of “walkable Coral Gables”—is a demographic reality. Residents are not going to stop walking. Parents are not going to stop pushing strollers. Tourists are not going to avoid exploring around the Biltmore. The only question is whether Coral Gables will build infrastructure that acknowledges this reality—or continue letting pedestrians shoulder the danger.

The answer must come quickly and concretely. As a city, we invest heavily in beautification, infrastructure and branding. The Granada path is not a major capital project. It is a civic safety intervention with the added benefit of elegance and ecological potential.

Vice Mayor Anderson pointed to several intelligent solutions: removing invasive Australian Pines, planting native buttonwood trees, exploring rubberized or soft-surface materials, and ensuring ADA compliance. These are practical, human-scale design features that increase accessibility and reduce injury risk.

Commissioner Richard Lara added a visceral note of truth. “You can’t be out there and not feel like you’re playing a game of Frogger,” he said. Anyone who has run the route—dodging cars, leaping onto uneven grass, or hearing a cyclist zip past without warning—knows exactly what he means. The problem isn’t visibility or signage. It’s shared space with no structure.

That structure must now be built. The city should move quickly to fund a study, secure a design, and allocate funds in the next budget cycle. There is broad consensus, a clear public benefit, and no rational reason for delay.

To be clear, this is a public safety measure in the most literal sense: separating vehicles from people on foot. And while it may lack the drama of a groundbreaking or ribbon-cutting, it is precisely this kind of modest, durable investment that defines whether a city values lives over lanes.

A running path around Granada Golf Course would preserve the character of the neighborhood—by allowing residents to move freely without fear, by preventing the next avoidable injury, and by reminding us that civic beauty must be matched by civic responsibility.

Let’s not wait for another driver, another cyclist, or another pedestrian to prove the point.

Let’s build the path before we again call the ambulance…or the hearse.