LINCOLN PARK — The busy intersection of Halsted Street, Fullerton Avenue and Lincoln Avenue — where a cyclist was hit by a pickup truck driver last week — is among the most dangerous for cyclists in the city.
The intersection ranked third in the city for the total number of reported crashes involving a pedestrian or cyclist from 2006 to 2012, according to an Active Transportation Alliance report.
Of the 157 total crashes that occurred at the intersection, 37 of them involved a pedestrian or cyclist, according to the report. Wicker Park's North, Milwaukee and Damen Avenue intersection ranked first, with 43 reported crashes involving a pedestrian or cyclist out of 172 total. The Austin intersection at Cicero and Chicago avenues came in second with 155 total accidents, 38 of them involving pedestrians or cyclists.
On Thursday afternoon, a man driving a Ford F-650 pickup truck was making a right turn on Halsted Street at the Lincoln Park intersection when he hit a 38-year-old woman on her bike. Police originally said the woman had died at the hospital, but on Friday they corrected that account, saying she was "stable" and talking.
Nat Tetha, a longtime employee at Thai Bowl, 2410 N. Lincoln Ave., said she's witnessed "a lot of bad accidents" in the seven years she's worked near the intersection.
"[We] always hear honking," said Quidri Jones, who has worked on the opposite side of the intersection at MB Bank, 2401 N. Halsted St., for more than six years.
Kyle Whitehead, a spokesman for Active Transportation Alliance, said the advocacy organization is in continued talks with Ald. Michele Smith (43rd) and city officials to figure out ways to make the intersection safer. Smith was not available for comment.
"We've talked to Alderman Smith quite a bit about the location. We know that they're interested in improving it. They haven't been able to get the infrastructure in the ground yet," Whitehead said.
The intersection is so busy because it's close to the "major" Fullerton "L" station, DePaul University and an active commercial district, Whitehead said.
"There's so much activity in terms of people biking, walking and then you add in infrastructure challenges of it being a six-way intersection and it definitely presents obstacles," he said.
He named removing right turn lanes, reducing wide turns with bump-outs and improving crosswalks as possible solutions, but said his organization doesn't have enough information to make specific recommendations at this time.
But the intersection could see improvements when the old Children's Memorial Hospital site is redeveloped.
The project's developer, Dan McCaffrey, has agreed to pay for transportation improvements at the intersection, including new turning lanes, separate bike lanes and a traffic signal at Orchard Street and Fullerton Avenue.
The former hospital closed in June 2012, and the six-acre site has remained vacant behind chain-link fences ever since.
McCaffrey told the Tribune in June that demolition should begin by the end of the year. But the construction project lacks the funding it needs and the land has not been sold yet.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
