Rush Hour traffic on N 12th St between Chestnut Ave and Linden Ave. On November 20, 2019, a person on a bike was killed in a collision with a truck ahead of where this photo was taken. July 16, 2019. Photo: Henry Pan

Human-Protected Bike Lane to Form, in Wake of Recent Killing

• November 21, 2019

Yet another person riding a bicycle was killed in the Twin Cities yesterday. This person was killed by a vehicle driver at N 12th St and Linden Ave in Downtown Minneapolis. A box truck driver, who was towing construction equipment, made a right turn and collided with the bicyclist.

Rush Hour traffic on N 12th St between Chestnut Ave and Linden Ave. On November 20, 2019, a person on a bike was killed in a collision with a truck ahead of where this photo was taken. July 16, 2019. Photo: Henry Pan

Rush hour traffic on N 12th St between Chestnut Ave and Linden Ave. On November 20, 2019, a person on a bike was killed by a person driving a truck, just ahead of where this photo was taken. (July 16, 2019. Photo: Henry Pan)

 

It’s not the first time that a person died at that intersection because they were involved in a vehicle crash. The City of Minneapolis reports that at least one person was either killed or severely injured at that intersection between 2007 and 2016.

We don’t know any more details of the crash as of this writing. We do know that there is a painted bike lane. I’ve used that bike lane coming from the farmers’ market on weekends. I’ve also ridden it on weekdays, when I’ve seen drivers drive on the bike lane in an attempt to get on 394 during rush hour. 

Some Minnesotans have had enough. “Paint doesn’t protect lives,” says Risa Hustad of Minneapolis. “It’s not enough to have connected bikeways in the city; we need to change the way we look at road sections and show that we matter.” This is why they and two other activists are organizing a human protected bike lane tomorrow (Friday, November 22) from 4pm to 6pm 4:30pm to 6:30pm. 

If you are interested, please join “Safe Streets Save Lives” at 12th and Linden, where you can help form a human-protected bicycle lane for people riding bikes on 12th Street. Risa and their team have more details on a Facebook event.

H. Jiahong Pan 潘嘉宏

About H. Jiahong Pan 潘嘉宏

H. Jiahong Pan 潘嘉宏 (pronouns: they/them/theirs) is a Minneapolis-based introverted freelance journalist who reports primarily on their lifelong passion: transportation issues. Find them on a bus of all types, the sidewalk, bike lane, hiking trail or perhaps the occasional carshare vehicle, camera and perhaps watercolor set or mushroom brush in tow, in your community or state or regional park regardless of season. If you can’t find them, they’re probably cooking, writing, curating an archive of wall art or brochures, playing board games, sewing or cuddling with their cat. Follow on Twitter: @h_pan3 or Instagram: @hpphmore or on Mastodon: @hpan3@newsie.social. See bylines after March 2020 in Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, Racket, Minnesota Reformer, Next City, The Guardian, Daily Yonder and MinnPost.

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One thought on “Human-Protected Bike Lane to Form, in Wake of Recent Killing”

  1. JenZ

    Thanks for promoting this! I was really sad to hear about the accident; i had the feeling that it was a tragedy waiting to happen.

    The company I work for moved to the North Loop last May. I loved biking in from SLP for about a month until the LRT closure. I’m not a skilled road biker at all, and the detours on 11th and 12th were much too intimidating for me to ride even on weekends (let alone rush hour).

    Does the experienced bike community here have any suggestions on lower-traffic alternatives to the official reroute? Maybe up Van White, connecting with the Glenwood detour? I’m bummed that I have to put my life at risk for two years just to bike to work.

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