Biker struck by car at Herschel/Edgewood

[Josh]

First off, is he OK?

At 7:15PM I was running down Edgewood towards St. Johns, and as I was nearing Jim Love's place (and thinking of mtraininjax's comment in the Mellow Mushroom thread), I heard an unmistakingly unpleasant sound. When I turned around I saw a bike falling/bouncing on the ground. Walking forward a few feet I saw multiple individuals running towards a guy on the ground. It looked pretty terrible for those few minutes when he was laying their motionless, but was relieved when he sat up, even if he was writhing in pain.

I'm sure the actual eyewitnesses or his fellow biker buddy will be chiming in shortly, so I'd rather not speculate too much on what happened. From where the guy and his bike were laying, I'm assuming he was either traveling along the crosswalk on Herschel, or turning from one street to another when he was hit. As someone that occasionally bikes to work downtown, it's not something pleasant to witness in any capacity.

[mtraininjax]

Josh - 7:15, hmmm where was I? I was in Ortega then, I hope the individual is OK, the success of the Shoppes of Avondale has a ripple effect throughout the area with people running stop signs, I see it daily at the intersections of Riverside/Oak/Edgewood, and the consequences, as in this case were injury.

I'll ask Jim to ask the JSO to patrol in our area more, you know they paid $30,000 for 15 custom bicycles, not off the rack kind like we have an maintain, but 2 grand for bikes, and then 20k for 2 golf carts, so hopefully we see these resources in use in our area, to slow people down.

Avondale is not SJTC people, slow your asses down!

[cline]

I got home just after it happened and watched from my porch as they took him to the hospital.  As Josh mentioned, he appeared to move so hopefully that is a good sign.  The car that hit him eventually had to be towed.  It is a dangerous intersection.  A couple of months ago a motorcyclist was hit.  Luckily, he appeared to be OK as well.  I have had close calls while jogging as well.  I think the major issue is the fact that people drive way too fast down Edgewood in this particular area.  Also, they do not seem to pay attention to the fact that you are supposed to come to a complete stop before turning right on red.  If they don't see a car they pretty much take the right turn as though it is a green light.  Also, there is quite a bit of foliage on the SW corner of the intersection so if you are heading north on Edgewood on the sidewalk on that side you better make sure you look for cars turning right even if you have the green light. 

[mtraininjax]

A couple of months ago a motorcyclist was hit.  Luckily, he appeared to be OK as well. 

The guy who was hit on a Friday in June or May was killed at Edgewood and Herschel. It all happened feet from my house, it was very sad. It did occur at night, which is why if I run outside, I do so early in the morning, wear the reflective vest and have flashing lights. Morning runs are best, not now when its 75 outside, but in the fall and winter, cause there are fewer people out.

Cline - If you want to meet and help me cut down the vegetation, we can do it together. No need to wait for the City. There is a tree, more like bush, at Oak/Edgewood that I would like to "trim" in the median. You cannot see the traffic headed north at this intersection and during the day, without seeing headlights, can be dangerous.  I planted the Crape Myrtles toward the north end of the median, and they look great, in their natural shape. We all trim the island, cause this is the last thing the City wants to do, we are lucky if it gets mowed.

[cline]

A couple of months ago a motorcyclist was hit.  Luckily, he appeared to be OK as well. 

The guy who was hit on a Friday in June or May was killed at Edgewood and Herschel. It all happened feet from my house, it was very sad. It did occur at night, which is why if I run outside, I do so early in the morning, wear the reflective vest and have flashing lights. Morning runs are best, not now when its 75 outside, but in the fall and winter, cause there are fewer people out.

Cline - If you want to meet and help me cut down the vegetation, we can do it together. No need to wait for the City. There is a tree, more like bush, at Oak/Edgewood that I would like to "trim" in the median. You cannot see the traffic headed north at this intersection and during the day, without seeing headlights, can be dangerous.  I planted the Crape Myrtles toward the north end of the median, and they look great, in their natural shape. We all trim the island, cause this is the last thing the City wants to do, we are lucky if it gets mowed.

Damn.  I didn't realize he was killed.  That's horrible.  I don't have any problems trimming back some of the trees there.  It would also be nice if we could get the City to repaint the crosswalk and add crosswalk striping to the other approaches.  As it stands now, the only crosswalk that is present is across Edgewood on the north side of the intersection, and it is fading.  The intersection needs to have crosswalks on all approaches since there are high amount of pedestrian/bicycle movements at all of them.

It would be nice to have ped signals installed as well but I'm sure that would take an act of God to get the City to do that.

[mtraininjax]

Heck, let's go out and paint them one night?! Why wait for the City? We can cut and paint and do what needs to be done. I can get some other neighbors in on it too. We want a safer area, and we are a wee bit tired of waiting for the city to get around to do it, but they have their own issues, so not a time to jump on them, streets and drainage do a great job, located off Superior Street.

From the Times Union today, Councilman Bill Gulliford is in the cross-hairs of all cyclists:

Safe Bicycling: (from Benjamin Wilson)
Florida ranks near the bottom of the nation in pedestrian and cyclist deaths and injuries.

Jacksonville ranks near the bottom of Florida cities in this area. One would think that this would be a cause for concern among city leaders.

In fact City Council recently place a moratorium (yet another one) on the Mobility Fund, the main source of funding for pedestrian and bicycle projects.

Councilman Bill Gulliford said in a recent email that, "No one, not a single bicycle advocate ever contacted me or returned to any committee meeting, and so we never received any suggested actions from the people who would seem to be the most knowledgeable and active!"

He (Gulliford) goes on to blame the bike-riding citizens for there not being better planning.

I'd say Mr. Gulliford lives in a rational neighborhood that does not have any deaths or incidents with cycles. I will make a point to reach out to him and copy Jim Love on my note and will do more to make sure the cycles are protected on our streets. We will see more of them, for sure.

[iluvolives]

Considering that at that intersection there are 2 churches (both used as voting locations) and a daycare I would think Love could get the city to put something there to alert drivers to watch for pedestrians. The issue on Edgewood is a problem heading both directions. Drivers heading NW on Edgewood away from the river take a left on green onto Herschel without even slowing down at all- I've been almost hit walking my dogs multiple times.

[MissMinda]

The foliage at the corners of many intersections in Riverside/Avondale definitely limits a driver's vision. Also, because of the necessity of parking on the streets, a driver has to creep out to see around the corner to know if the turn is safe in many cases...especially if the cars have tinted windows that you can't see through. I drive very slowly through our neighborhood and take extra time at the intersections to make sure I don't get in an accident. I'm glad we have so many bikers, runners, dog-walkers. Makes it a nice place to live.

I hope the man is all right. Sorry he got hit.

[mtraininjax]

Drivers heading NW on Edgewood away from the river take a left on green onto Herschel without even slowing down at all- I've been almost hit walking my dogs multiple times.

It can be a racetrack for sure. We tried to get the city to put in traffic humps, but they claim that Edgewood Avenue is a state road, which it IS, but not in Avondale. Plus the ambulances would not respond well to the speed humps, but it is a major issue, and the ambulances can always take Park Street to King if needed.

[jaxlore]

I've been actively biking through Riverside\Avondale for several years now, and the increase in bike riders has really took off this last year. I've slowed down my driving habits and amped up my alertness on my bike because I think there is a false sense of security with younger riders and drivers.

[BridgeTroll]

Pretty sure the stop sign on Edgewood at Oak/Edgewood is nearly completely obscured by a bush or tree...

[mtraininjax]

I'll ask Jim Love if as a citizen, we can cut back the vegetation that blocks the street signs or impedes right of way. I may need to send out flyers to everyone on the block, to make them aware of the issue, see if anyone objects, but vegetation covering a stop sign is a real issue.

[Dog Walker]

MTrain,  I've had some luck reporting the obscured signs and intersections to 630-CITY or the online version of the same.  The City seems to be very sensitive to the issue and I've seen work crews within a day or two.

We have a low palm tree that grows up and obscures on-coming traffic across the street from us and the City crews have cut it down a couple of times when it is reported.

[mtraininjax]

MTrain,  I've had some luck reporting the obscured signs and intersections to 630-CITY

I have not had the same luck, 630-CITY is a crap shoot, at best. Why bother with all that when I can walk 100 yards and knock on Jim Love's door and get him to help?