Donate to Help Create Safer Streets in Saint Paul

[tl;dr: Please give to the Maryland Avenue safe streets sign fund to make sure the "field test" works well for everyone in the neighborhood.]

[Elizabeth, Shelby, Channy & Kunlek, killed by unsafe streets.]

Last week, I wrote on streets.mn about how I believe the Maryland Avenue field test is the most important street safety opportunity to come to Saint Paul in a generation. Depending on how the "test" goes, the city and county may finally begin re-thinking and re-prioritizing space on its most dangerous streets, the deadly 4-lane county arterials that run through all parts of Saint Paul regardless of their impacts to safety or quality of life.

This has been a central issue for me for many years, and I even made these streets the focus of my TEDxMinneapolis talk last August, where I told the story of Elizabeth Durham (among others), who was tragically killed by a car driver on Maryland Avenue because of dangerous and misguided street design.

This week, after years of organizing and conversation, Ramsey County is finally going to try out a 4-3 road diet that would slow down speeds on this important street. The new design and allow people to cross from one side to the other without taking their life into their hands. You might as well call it the "Durham Memorial Street Test", because the one-mile stretch of Maryland runs from Greenbrier, where the fatal crash occurred, all the way to Johnson Parkway to the east.

[The test design for Maryland Avenue, on Saint Paul's East Side..]

As of today the test is up. The rest is up to the drivers and community members in Saint Paul's East Side.

It's a big moment!

[Please give today. Let's hit the goal!]

You can help make sure it works out by funding the Maryland Avenue street design sign project that my friend Eric Saathoff has put together. Eric lives over on the East Side and, along with a group of dogged neighbors, has helped organize a "kickstarter" to fund the signs.

If you care about safe streets in Saint Paul, please give a few dollars to this effort.

Let's make sure that Elizabeth's Durham's death was not in vain, and that the deadly "whip-around" never happens again on Maryland Avenue. Let's make sure that this "field test" goes well, and that we can change our deadly Saint Paul streets once and for all, for the next generations of kids.

[See also my Minnpost article on crosswalk safety stings on Maryland Avenue, my pointed rant against these deadly road designs, and my cautiously optimistic explanation of the "field test."]

 

[Saathoff and East Side community members trying raising awareness of pedestrian safety at Maryland and Greenbrier, the month *before* Durham was killed.]