Information About the Crash
A crash that injured two pedestrians was reported in the October City Administrator’s report.
Excerpt from October, 2024 City Administrator’s report
The Main and Washington pedestrian UD-10 report was released by AAPD after a FOIA request and describes how a Boober Tour bicycle taxi was headed southbound on Main, approaching the temporary barricades that closed Main Street for the A2 Fall Streets events. The taxi operator engaged the throttle instead of the brake and the motorized pedicab hit the barricade, which then hit two pedestrians who were on the other side.
Excerpt of UD-10 report with diagram and narrative of the crash.
Recommendation:
Improve The Barricades
The barricades that keep vehicle traffic out of downtown streets during closure events like A2 Fall Streets are temporary and intended to be moved often. This may have been a good, expedient option to help people get back to downtown during the pandemic, but after 5 years, it’s time for a better solution.
Ann Arbor (top) uses temporary barricades for street closure events downtown (Photo by Rachel Leggett). Northville (bottom) uses retractable bollards to manage event closures. (Photo by Liz Cezat at http://www.ci.northville.mi.us)
The existing barricades apparently don’t offer much protection from motor vehicles–two people who were in the area restricted for pedestrian traffic only were injured by a relatively small, light motorized pedicab. (Fortunately, it wasn’t a car driver who confused throttle and brake in this situation.) And, as noted in comments given during the Downtown Circulation Study community feedback sessions, they are not exactly attractive. The barricades make downtown look less like a place for an outdoor concert event and more like a construction zone.
One nearby city, Northville, manages event closures with retractable bollards. The city and the DDA should invest in a permanent solution like this one, which will be more attractive for the downtown business district and, importantly, offer better protection in case of a crash.