5-Mar-20 – More than 70 people attended a meeting on the Near North Side to discuss pedestrian safety on Michigan Avenue. A five-block stretch of Michigan Avenue from Chicago Avenue north to Oak Street, they were told, has the third-most pedestrian fatalities in the city.

Phyllis Mitzen, president of the neighborhood organization Skyline Village Chicago, says she was struck by a delivery van last December while crossing Michigan Avenue with a green light. The van rolled over her leg, resulting in 15 hours in surgery, ten days in the hospital, and three months in rehabilitation.

Dr. Mamta Swaroop, a trauma surgeon with Northwestern Medicine, said in the past three days, her trauma center had treated crash victims each day.

According to Streetsblog Chicago, while the overall number of traffic fatalities dropped 20 percent from 2018 to 2019, the number of pedestrian fatalities went from 41 in 2018 to 40 in 2019.

The panel discussion, hosted by Streeterville Organization of Active Residents, included 2nd Ward Alderman Brian Hopkins, who said customs need to change so that everyone can share roads safely. Accidents are preventable, he says, with education and infrastructure changes.

Suggestions offered by audience members included longer traffic lights to give people more time to cross Michigan Avenue, more police or traffic control aides to direct traffic and enforce traffic laws, and getting traffic to slow down.

Streetsblog Chicago editor John Greenfield said the biggest problem was confusing traffic lights. Northbound pedestrians who are not paying attention often start crossing a street when they see a green light meant for northbound vehicles, while pedestrians still have a “Don’t Walk” signal, not seeming to realize that vehicles can then turn and drive into their path.

He says it is mostly an issue on the west side of Michigan Avenue.

The February 13 discussion at Ogden Elementary School was moderated by 5th District Representative Lamont Robinson, Jr.