Mailbag: Just trying to bike across the street can be hazardous
Posted on September 30th, 2008 – 12:58 PMBy Roadguy
Roadguy received this e-mail last evening from alert reader Ken of Columbia Heights:
After reading about all of the recent bicyclist fatalities, I discovered today just how bad it can get. My wife and I were bicycling south on Stinson Parkway in NE Minneapolis when we came upon Hennepin County Road 88. We have always had trouble crossing this stretch of road to get onto the new Minneapolis Bike/Ped path but today was beyond belief.
When the walk light went white, we proceeded to cross the four-lane 120+ foot road and got halfway across when three large northbound commercial trucks cut us off while turning right, and forced us to stop in our tracks. To make matters worse, as we started to continue across the road an SUV with a not so nice ungentlemanly person stopped just short of hitting me and then started to yell that he had the right-of-way because the “Don’t Walk” sign was flashing. After I went through he proceeded to cut my wife off as if she wasn’t there.
I’m sure the Minneapolis PD will say they are too understaffed to work these intersections, but what about the Park Police since this is an entry to a new and major bike path. Are these drivers ignorant of the law or just stupid?
Bike injuries are up, too, according to this Strib story posted this morning. You can probably imagine the comment thread without even looking.
9 Responses to "Mailbag: Just trying to bike across the street can be hazardous"
That must have been Mr. james03 (who is leaving comments on the injury story) driving that SUV that cut off these folks.
It’s been an unbelievably bad month for cycling here in the Cities. Kinda makes me second-guess the findings of this study here…
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080903112034.htm
Maybe we’re just seeing an increase in fatalities/injuries because there are so many more cyclists out there. Probably won’t know ’til next year when the final numbers pan out…
Ride safe everybody! Wear those brain-buckets!
Unfortunately, I fear the new path on Stinson, south of 88, is a failure for exactly the reason you describe. I appreciate the city’s attempt, but the new path is not a solution.
Stinson/88 is a miserable intersection. Plus, when you’re heading south on Stinson you’re supposed to be on the right-hand (that is West) side of the road, and the new path is on the East side of Stinson, south of 88. So you’ve first got to cross to the East side of Stinson, then cross 88. Aside from being dangerous, it’s really inconvenient.
I live in NE and commute to work downtown. I never ride on Stinson for this reason.
I take my chances on Johnson Street, where there is no path.
I agree with Ken that this intersection is awful, but I disagree that increased enforcement is the solution. I think Timbo is on the right track. This intersection is a design problem, not an enforcement problem. As a highway, 88 doesn’t serve any purpose for heavy trucks or commuting that I-35W can’t serve. 88 should be the subject of a corridor study with the intent of creating a more densly populated urban corridor.
My suggestion is to turn off Stinson Pkwy. at 19th Ave. NE and cross CR 88 on 19th. There is no light there, but there are also fewer traffic movements. If you need to, you can stop in the median and wait for traffic to pass. Plus, it gives you direct access to the trail.
“…I’m sure the Minneapolis PD will say they are too understaffed to work these intersections…”
If someone really gets out of line, I suggest calling the police anyway. Even if they do nothing, the call was made. And if the same nut-job really hurts somebody later, there’s a record.
Yeah, I am wondering what happened, too? Is it more bikes or just more people in general?
The ‘dont walk’ sign is generally for the entire length of the intersection, not the little parts inbetween. Yeah, there /are/ buttons there, but those are for people who can’t quite make it across fast enough. You’re a pedestrian, you /have/ right of way against anything taking a right turn on red.
I would like to see a study that compares all the bike/car collisions cited in the article with number of citations issued - for bikes or drivers.
Also, it seems now the only way killing a cyclist is a problem is if you run away. Stopping and saying “sorry, i didn’t see the bike” is enough to absolve a driver of any wrongdoing. It then gets filed under ‘tragic accident’. Sort of like hitting a dog.
“and then started to yell that he had the right-of-way because the “Don’t Walk” sign was flashing”… Never mind the fact that he had a RED light. The ignorance of some people is astounding. We need to have written tests to renew drivers licenses to weed out the morons. If you can’t pass that test, you shouldn’t be able to renew.
