After two serious bicycling collisions this week in McLean County, with one proving to be fatal, a bicycle advocacy group says everyone should remember to practice safety on the roads.
The McLean County Wheelers is the area’s more than 40-year-old bicycle safety and social group with over 200 members.
Kellie Williams, the Wheelers president, said the fatal crash outside Danvers on Aug. 23 is a profound loss for the community.
“It is a tragic reminder that the roads are a shared space, not only with bicyclists but with walkers as well and this is a terrible reminder,” said Williams.
The non-fatal crash on Aug. 25 was along U.S. 150 near Evans Junior High, also a rural area. The two injured cyclists were in a “serious” crash, according to authorities. Williams said rural roads and ones in town present different issues.
“[Rural roads] often have less traffic, but they can have narrow shoulders. Here in town there’s a lot more traffic, a lot more people not paying attention,” she said. “So, really, we ask everyone, both drivers and cyclists, to exercise patience, attentiveness and empathy when on our shared roads.”
Williams said one extra moment of paying attention is all it may take to save a life on the road. According to data in the Go:Safe McLean County Action Plan, there were 20 bicycle crashes with death or serious injury, 69 with minor injury, and six with no injury in McLean County from 2019-23.
She said the Wheelers encourage group rides, emphasizing safety in numbers.
“We have very experienced people that know to follow all the rules of the road. Bicycles are legally allowed to be on the road and also required to follow all the rules of the road a car does,” Williams said.
Without experience, a driver may not be expecting to see a bicycle in the road, and they may not expect to accommodate them either.
Williams said overall McLean County drivers are friendly, but a common problem she sees is when rural roads do not have as much room as town roads to accommodate everyone.
“If the road is narrow and perhaps has a bit of a rise to it, the car may have to follow the bike, and bikes are slower than cars,” she said. “So that can lead to frustration, perhaps, if you don’t exercise a little patience.”
In that instance, Williams said the cyclist may wave the car on if they can see the road is clear in front of them.
The Wheelers want to extend public education outside of adult riders. Williams said while the state already mandates some education in schools on bicycle safety, the group would love to get into McLean County schools themselves.
“It’s a little hit and miss, just because schools are strapped right now, but we have some plans,” she said. “Ride Illinois supports us with curriculum, but it is hard with schools right now with the demands of curriculum, with teachers staffing, with P.E. staffing. But we continue to have good conversations with some of the schools, and we look to have a little bit more forward movement this year.”
Williams said not everyone bikes for fun or for activity, some prefer it for their daily commute around Bloomington-Normal. She said some rely on Constitution Trail, due to the lack of bike lanes. She said she would support adding more to the area.
“That always helps keep us safe, and it also helps drivers … they always have to pay attention, but it helps drivers not be in our lane,” said Williams. “We don’t have to share the lane quite so much; we just have to share the road each in our own respective spot.”
Williams said the Wheelers work with Bloomington, Normal and McLean County governments regularly to advocate for bicycle safety. Recently, she was helping to shape the Bloomington Streetscape plan.
“[The Wheelers] sent in letters of support for them, at their request, to add bicycle infrastructure to the streetscape to make it safer to ride to Bloomington Downtown and amongst it,” she said. “And then also the Town of Normal as they’ve tried to add bike lanes. These roads weren’t necessarily designed with bike lanes initially, so it always takes a lot longer than you think.”
The McLean County Regional Planning Commission has explored the process of connecting walking and biking networks with other modes of transportation, including the possibility of making Veterans Parkway pedestrian and bike friendly. Williams said she supports that and would welcome making the roads with heavy traffic multimodal friendly.
