Sisters Creek Bridge Walkway 7

[bimr]

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville family wants lights to be added to the new Sisters Creek Bridge after their loved one was killed in a bicycle accident.

Brandy Harris said Chad Herrington, her 18-year-old brother, was riding his bike on Heckscher Drive the night after Thanksgiving when he didn’t see the sidewalk ending and hit the wall near the end of the bridge.

“What he didn’t know was at the end of the sidewalk, there’s two 90 degree turns that goes down to a creek side,” Harris said. ‘And he hit that wall at 15 miles per hour and him and his bike went over and he hit his head on the sign.”

The victim was not found until a week later.

Reporting

 

[LittleInch]

Well whoever designed that death trap seems to like large sudden concrete walls.

This is the picture of the end of the cycleway / footpath on the other side of the road.

Equally unlit and no warning.

To be a little fair this makes it look worse than it is as it has an angle on it but would make you walk / cycle another 400 yds at least tog et back to the same point.

Nothing on the other side has any notice saying pedestrian or cycles or sudden end.

A definitive failure in design for me.

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[BrianPetersen]

That particular spot on the north side of the road also leads to the inside of a looped ramp from the road over the bridge to the surface street underneath, with nowhere for such hypothetical pedestrians (or bicyclists) to go other than crossing a street with no marked pedestrian crossing - or backtrack for a long walk to a marina and boat ramp area.

https://www.google.com/maps/@30.3976555,-81.4660617,158m/data=!3m1!1e3

The crash location is to the right of that frame on the south side of the road.

Given the length of this bridge, and what's surrounding it on both ends, I would expect pedestrian traffic volume to approach zero, which means this should have been a bicycle lane, which means it should have been extended another hundred metres or so along the roadway instead of doubling back underneath (and provided with a proper marked road crossing). And zero lighting and zero signage.

I've changed my mind: General design failure. Including being an engineering failure.

 

[Spartan5]

Chapter 5 of To Engineer Is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design by Henry Petroski is titled “SUCCESS IS FORESEEING FAILURE.” Chapter 8 is titled “ACCIDENTS WAITING TO HAPPEN.”

I think those are fitting in this instance.

For those faulting the cyclist, this is akin to an unlit interstate highway with a black barrier placed across it (matching the pavement). That kid was probably humming along on autopilot because he was on a clear, protected stretch of path where a sudden barrier would not be expected.

Very tragic, and a horrible way to die.

 

[JohnRBaker]

I love Petroski's books. As he explained, while your desire should always be to avoid failure, just remember that you learn almost nothing from a dozen successful efforts when compared to what you learn from a single failure.

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
EX-Product 'Evangelist'
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[ACtrafficengr]

it doesn't look like there is power on the bridge for lighting, but that shouldn't be an issue.

We recently installed two solar powered luminaires to illuminate a remote salt shed for reloading our snowplows. If they've gotten to the point they'll work in an upstate NY winter's night, something similar will work with Florida's shorter nights and brighter days.

I've heard people say that addressing an issue after a serious incident is tantamount to admitting guilt. I'd say not addressing it is dereliction.

Edit: there should be navigation lights under the bridge.

My glass has a v/c ratio of 0.5

Maybe the tyranny of Murphy is the penalty for hubris. -

http://xkcd.com/319/

 

[EdStainless]

The goal isn't to prevent accidents, or even to prevent close calls/near misses. The goal to keep people out of potentially risky situations. I know, there will always be idiots, but they should have to try to hurt themselves and not get hurt doing things the obvious way.
A couple of signs with solar lights would be the minimum effort for this installation.
That ramp doesn't look useable for anything other than pedestrians given how steep it is with tight sharp corners.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
P.E. Metallurgy, consulting work welcomed

 

[RedSnake]

Here in Sweden we have asphalt roads and walking/cycling paths.
Even if they are illuminated and you have the bicycle light on when you cycle when it is pitch dark,
my experience is that it can be difficult to really see so far ahead, especially when it's raining.
I have neither the worst nor the best bicycle light on my bike, they are LED lights.

A problem when it is dark even with light on is that it is not always so easy to determine that what you see in front of you is a wall and not the road itself when everything is made of the same material the same problem as when it has snowed heavily and there is a lot of snow and you can not see where the road starts and ends.

With a bicycle light that does not have such a long range, you have to decide if you want to shine it at the same height as far forward as possible or have it angled so that you can see the ground in front of you.
In any case, I think that even with a bicycle light on, this wall would not be easy to detect.

An after construction can be to set up reflectors, but it only helps if you have lights on.
Another solution that is used here in Sweden, but then mainly on car roads, is to paint striped lines, which means that the steering wheel starts to vibrate if you start to cross the line.

The same principle could be used here, to simply make grooves or paint on the walkway, in a way that makes it necesary for the cyclist to slow down and or perhaps realize that there is something that you should be aware of.
Of course, no foolproof afterthought, but maybe better than nothing.
And of course it works better if it is applied every, so the principle is widely known.
The best is of course god lighting or reconstruction..

Best Regards A

“Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere.“
Albert Einstein

 

[drwebb]

From what I know of living in JAX for three years(and the South my whole life) the sidewalk may have been included in the bridge design either as a federal highway requirement or to qualify for some matching funding rather than utility to non-motorized road users. The photographs make it appear as a strictly utilitarian design (i.e. 'designed to specification'). Is this an example of well-intentioned infrastructure mandates/incentives without practical guidelines?

 

[LionelHutz]

Both the side with the turns and ramp and the other side loop around onto a sidewalk beside the surface street that loops around beside the bridge before going to 4-way stop under the bridge. At that point, there are no more side walks in any direction. Given the lack of sidewalks on the accident side and rather poor sidewalks on the other side, I would suspect the walkways on the bridge were put there for some currently unknown "future" use or they were spec'd in because someone forced it on the project, but given minimal effort because there were no real requirements besides being there. Similar to those suspect spots for light poles being there but not used.

The ramp area as a minimum should be lit at the corner and especially under the bridge, or the sidewalk should just be blocked off from use.

 

[1503-44]

Thats simply a %#$%*^^ stupid design.

Why does not the road also have 2x 90 degree turns. A bit obvious no. Because that would be a %#$%*^^ stupid design.

 

[JStephen]

Around here, you have cyclists who treat a bicycle as a vehicle and cyclists who treat a bicycle as walking at a faster pace.
The former ride on the road (or actual bike trails) and have lights when needed; the latter are apt to be riding the wrong way on a sidewalk with no lights.
That's kind of the divide between recreational cycling and lost-your-license-due-to-DUI cycling, too.
In reality, neither the roads nor the sidewalks are intended for cycling, and it's "rider beware" in either case.
On the roads, you may have pot holes, longitudinal slots/joints/crack wide enough to trap a wheel, gratings with similar features, shoulders that start or stop abruptly, etc.
On the sidewalks, you have jogs too sudden to navigate, utility poles in the middle of the sidewalk, abrupt starts or stops in paving, large ledges, stairsteps, etc.
Even "bicycle paths" are not exempt from such features when built specifically for bicycles. I know of one bicycle bridge that is a couple of feet narrower than the connecting trail, and the handrail just has a corresponding 90-degree offset at that point. IE, you can ride straight into a handrail if you don't notice the trail narrows there. And, some of these bike trails have random posts in the middle of the trail to keep motorized vehicles off, but that's also a hazard for the intended users.
I've just assumed that nobody connected with any of the highway/road departments rides a bike, or really cares how many cyclists die on the roads, for that matter.
One of the latest trends is that where there's a narrow but rideable shoulder, they'll put a deep rumble strip in the middle of it, which forces you into the lane.

Here's the bridge I mentioned:

https://goo.gl/maps/xV3ZyuMshaevUHgh7

 

[dik]

I ride my bike on the sidewalk nearly always... I'm too wobbly to be on the street. When I encounter pedestrians I move well away from them... usually 8' to 10' (riding on the boulevard or someone's front lawn), and will actually dismount if I cannot distance... notwithstanding the skills or attitude, there should be no reason that a person should be seriously injured or die from their transgressions. It's just not civilised. In this area, on a good day, you could fire a cannon down the sidewalk and not hit anyone; there are very few pedestrians.

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?

-Dik

 

[verymadmac]

Its a very poor detail, likely to be invisible in poor light [gray on gray], no reflectors, lacking increased rail height or signage.

The discussion here only covers cyclists and pedestrians yet would likely have produced the same result with a skateboard. We won't mention the electric scooter craze and increased potential for issues in details like this they create.

 

[bimr]

Saw a sign today on a bridge:

 

[JohnRBaker]

Sounds like good advice, on any bridge.

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
EX-Product 'Evangelist'
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[dik]

John... I notice the 'bike path' continues on the LHS of the sign...

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?

-Dik

 

[ACtrafficengr]

bimr, it looks like people are going straight rather than following the sidewalk. Had they moved the light post a few feet to the right, the sidewalk could have been straight, people would follow it, and the formwork crew wouldn't have cursed out the designer!

The black on white warning sign is a nice touch.

My glass has a v/c ratio of 0.5

Maybe the tyranny of Murphy is the penalty for hubris. -

http://xkcd.com/319/

 

[thebard3]

I would have 6 punctures by the time I got through all of that debris and gravel.

Brad Waybright

The more you know, the more you know you don't know.

 

[Spartan5]

bimr, similar to your sign, I saw this on a walk the other night:

 

[bimr]

I guess that sign is up so that you don't accidentally walk into the electrical box.