A few minutes ago I came through the Greenway / 28th Street intersection on my way home from work. Found the intersection roped off, with about 4 police cars and several civilian vehicles stopped, and a white bike with some pretty severe damage laying in the street about 25 feet east of the Greenway intersection.

I'm hoping the cyclist is ok, but from the looks of things and the fact that the intersection is still roped off after the victim has already been transported away sends a chill down my spine.

Sending good vibes and prayers your way, whoever you are.

I'll save my rant about that intersection for a different post... now is not the time.

Indeed. I haven't heard anything more, yet, but my hopes and wishes are with the cyclist.

Do be careful at that intersection. I've not noticed that any cars pay attention to the painted bump outs the City put in last fall, making it a classic double threat situation. But as you say, now is not the time for a rant/call to action. Please be sure that all four lanes of traffic are either clear, or stopped before you proceed through the intersection.


Gabriel Hoffman
Midtown Greenway Coalition Board of Directors

Yeah - I saw the paramedics tending the cyclists - a white dude - lots of blood on his face. His bike was behind the car - I haven't a clue what happened... Sent major chills down my spine. Saw the woman in red just standing there looking shocked...

Cyclist or friend of the cyclist - please post us an update - is / are / you / he / alright?????

Be safe - ride safe....

And yeah - I DISLIKE that intersection.

I had just written the city's Bicycling Coordinator (sorry Shaun, I forget your bikelove handle) a few days ago about this intersection and the need to post up signs that say the lane narrows and to redo the paint. I ride though there several times a week now and it's super dangerous.

Unfortunately Shaun is on vacation so I didn't hear back what if anything is on the horizon for improving this intersection.

:(:(

In 2007, anger about the Greenway's 28th Street crossing near Hiawatha was the issue that introduced me to MplsBikeLove. This old thread (http://www.mplsbikelove.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=3242&start=0) predicted mayhem; I just hope that today's accident doesn't turn out to be as bad as it looked.

Back in 2007, I was hoping for a traffic light there with a loop detector for cyclists, but the city countered with a promise of a center island refuge and just one motorized lane in each direction. Then they couldn't even come up with funds to paint something of the sort. I had wanted to stage a "die-in" at the grand opening, to dramatize the guaranteed slaughter with the current design, but toned that down to a suggestion for a "pre-memorial" in which we wouldn't bother to wait for someone to actually die before raising funds for a proper crossing.



I'm mad. Everybody knew that the 28th Street crossing, the Minnehaha Avenue crossing, and the light-rail crossing at 26th are death traps for cyclists. The traffic folks promised a solution at 28th. I've been looking for the safety island ever since, or at least for the paint on the road, and there has been exactly NOTHING done for four years. Why do we have to wait for blood and ambulances? (And why will we have to put up with the usual trolls blaming cyclists for the inevitable results of dangerous design?)

Oh my god, I hope this person makes a complete recovery.

I am also very upset.

I emailed to the Midtown Greenway Coalition and the MPLS Bike Coalition on MARCH 31st.

They replied with "We'll tune in and communicate with the City." and "We actually have a few people working on various "quick fixes," which are less-complicated projects like these."

I called Shaun Murphy the same day and he said he'd prioritize it for the first re-stripping. Looks like they had other priorities.

And now this...

Well, none of the major news sources (KARE11.com, KSTP.com, WCCO.com, KMSP.com, twincities.com, or StarTribune.com) are reporting this story yet -- I am hoping that means the victim survived. They are usually pretty quick when there's a fatality. I sure hope the rider is back in the saddle soon.

I hate that intersection -- and every other one all the way out to Hopkins. I just came in from a ride and my neighbor was complaining about all the cyclists that blow the crossing at Blake. I told him I was just as upset with the cars that stop when they shouldn't. I think the only solution is a massive ad campaign to educate both drivers and riders about how to negotiate these intersections because nobody seems to know what they should be doing!

Wouldn't the best "campaign" be improving or at least MAINTAINING the specific intersections and signage? It's obvious that motorists need to be told what to do at the exact moment it's happening. Maybe we can set it up so they all get a text message 5 blocks before it.

Edit: If the infrastructure in place doesn't do a good enough job informing the users what to do at the specific moment by communicating through design there has been a failure in proper planning.

If I remember right the reason this one never got cement was because they need to be able to park semis along there in the morning for deliveries to the businesses alongside. I could be wrong on that, but I think that was the thing that kept it from ever being seriously considered, the businesses would not be able to function without those parked semis or something else ridiculous like that.

I saw the accident happen as I was waiting to cross the intersection. The closest eastbound lane had stopped to let him pass but the lady with the red van in the far lane did not slow at all and hit him as he crossed.

I went to check on his condition and he was able to speak to me. He wasn't wearing a helmet and was bleeding from a wound on his left temple and also from his mouth a little. He moved his arms but I didn't see any leg movement. The ambulance and firetruck arrived within a couple minutes but I was surprised how slowly they exited their vehicles and approached the injured man. I've never been at the scene of an accident but I would've thought they'd move with a little more rapidity.

I really hope the guy is alright, he looked to be only 23-25 years old. Hopefully the absence of reporting by the local news outlets is a good sign.

Thanks for posting. That sounds like a traumatic situation, I hope for everyone's sake that he is OK. I worry about that intersection every time I pass through.

I really hope the cyclist is alright and survives well.
This is a really dangerous bike crossing and the signage is inadequate.
Same thing could have happened a couple of weeks ago. I was eastbound and saw a cyclist waiting at the crossing. I slowed and stopped. The driver a ways behind me just switched lanes and sped around me.
What was that driver thinking? That I had just slowed and stopped in the middle of the road for nothing? I just don't get it.
Bill.

In Holland and the Munsterland, intersections like this one are handled simply and effectively, at an expense only about $50K greater than the cost of the sort of flasher that's there.

An ordinary semaphore-type stoplight is set up, but the units facing the cyclists are miniatures, perhaps four feet high. The light is green for motorists by default. But sensors in the bike path detect the approach of a cyclist, and that causes the light to go through its green-amber-red cycle.

That way, the motorist is never inconvenienced unless there are actually cyclists present and wishing to cross. It is rare for either the motorist or the cyclist to be delayed by more than 30 seconds; as a result, compliance is good. It works well, and may have prevented today's accident.

Four or five years ago, we proposed such devices for 28th and 26th, and even provided the city traffic engineers with pricing information from the manufacturers and volunteered to help with fundraising. We were not well received. Astonishingly, the person we dealt with kept insisting that a full semaphore was far too expensive ... ignoring the fact that we'd put something less than half the price before him.

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The accident as described is a classic. A motorist generously stops to let you through, but the guy in the next lane doesn't stop ... a situation for which we bike commuters must be vigilant, as others have pointed out. It would be best if traffic control design simply made this scenario unlikely, but in the meanwhile...