Indy’s Most Dangerous Bike Trail Intersections: Number Two

After the death of a well-known local cyclist near the Monon Trail crossing at 86th Street (October, 2021), local cyclists could be seen calling for changes to make cycling in the Circle City safer. As far as we know, the sole change in response to their petition was for traffic engineers reprogram the pedestrian crossing lights at that intersection, which now allows trail users a 10-second window when none of the travel lanes for motor vehicles has a green light. Now, if engineers could just reprogram the drivers who routinely ignore the “no turn on red” signs…

Although decidedly dangerous, in our opinion the intersection where the man perished isn't the most dangerous bike crossing in Indy, not even the most dangerous intersection of a trail and a street. Without further ado, here is another in our nominations for the bottom six street crossings in Marion County…

Number 2: Fall Creek Trail at Dr. Martin Luther King
Street (MLK)

The newest (so far) segment of the Fall Creek Greenway Trail continues west along the north bank of Fall Creek from Capitol Avenue to Burdsall Parkway. At MLK and Fall Creek, the trail crosses the south side of the intersection at street level. A button-controlled walk signal gives trail users apparent cover. The crossing is at an oblique angle to MLK.

Eastbound trail users have an unobstructed view of traffic on both streets, including a left-turn lane from Fall Creek to MLK that is, for no known reason, unsignaled. A significant fraction of the drivers making the turn seem unaware that trail users in the pedestrian crosswalk have the right of way.

The danger of approaching the intersection from the west pales in comparison to the eastern approach, where drivers northbound on MLK can only see trail users upon coming to a stop at the intersection. That's assuming they come to a stop; which is a dangerous assumption given that many who turn right look only to the left for oncoming vehicular traffic while ignoring the crosswalk. Many drivers proceed onto Fall Creek without benefit of a stop, red light or not. Perhaps the only reason there has not been a fatal accident at this intersection is that the section of trail is still relatively new and so far carries minimal traffic.

Once the Fall Creek Greenway Trail is extended to the 16 Tech District, however, we predict heavier traffic along the trail. It's only a matter of time.

Grade: D- [Engineering: D, Traffic: F]

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