Information About The Crash
CIAA learned about a pedestrian crash on Mosley from a routine FOIAA request of police crash records. The incident is not captured in the February city administrator’s report, which contains details of other pedestrian crashes from the month of January.
The UD-10 report describes a hit and run crash involving a pedestrian walking on Mosley, and an unknown silver hatchback vehicle. In the UD10 report, the pedestrian is said to have been heading eastbound on Mosley towards Main. A southbound vehicle turned right off of Main, striking him as he was about 10 feet from the crosswalk.
Excerpt of the UD-10 with narrative and diagram.
A visit to the site of the crash on February 25th shows a sidewalk closure at the corner of Ashley and Mosley. It’s been that way since October, 2023 when this Seeclickfix ticket was opened to ask the city to address poor visibility at the intersection. Note the barricades and closure signs on the northeast corner of Mosley and Ashley.
With the sidewalk closed on Mosley, and no detour provided, one possible route for an eastbound pedestrian is shown below in yellow. First, forced into the street at the construction, then confronted with barricades and closure signs at the northeast corner of Mosely and Ashley, then unable to get over snow banks and landscaping to access the sidewalk on the north side of Mosley, this pedestrian would find themselves approaching Main while still walking in the roadway of Mosley.
Recommendation
Ann Arbor needs better standards for pedestrian detours. Construction will happen in a city like ours, and we need a way to manage the pedestrian traffic around it without creating unnecessary crossings or forcing users into the street. In this case, a portion of the north side of Mosely should be cordoned off with barriers to create a safe place for pedestrians to walk in the street. The curb cut on the northeast corner of Mosley and Ashely should remain open with a crosswalk leading to the temporary walkway in the street.
A final note about this crash
The AAPD case report for this incident includes a further statement from the injured pedestrian, taken on February 7th, in which he clarified that he was crossing Mosley in the crosswalk at the time of the crash. He also said that he may have recounted some of the details in his original statement incorrectly in the moments immediately following the crash. According to the later statement, he was not walking along the path outlined in yellow in the picture above. But Ann Arbor still needs to improve pedestrian detours around construction areas, starting with this one. All of the obstacles that would force an eastbound pedestrian to walk in the street without protection remain, with the exception of the barricades on the northeast corner that some good Samaritan has toppled and pushed to the lawn extension. These obstacles, caused by construction occurring on private property, create an unacceptable risk for pedestrians. Projects like this one should be required to provide a safe route for pedestrian traffic.
