Highland Park fatal crosswalk crash spurs safety push

St. Paul officials are under pressure to quickly add traffic-calming and crosswalk protections at the busy Cleveland Avenue and Ford Parkway intersection after residents demanded changes in the wake of a fatal dump truck crash that killed a pedestrian there last month.^[1]

Neighbors, safety advocates and city staff packed a community feedback session on Tuesday, Nov. 10, where residents called for steps such as flashing crosswalk lights, more visible markings and protected left-turn signals to prevent similar crashes along Ford Parkway in Highland Park.^[1]

The push follows the death of 69-year-old Karen McElveen, who was struck and killed on Oct. 29 while crossing Ford Parkway in a marked crosswalk with the walk signal at Cleveland Avenue, a major commercial and transit corridor just east of the Mississippi River. City officials say a dump truck making a left turn from Cleveland hit McElveen as she crossed, in a crash that has renewed scrutiny of how drivers and pedestrians move through one of Highland Park's busiest intersections.^[1]

St. Paul city staff and Ramsey County transportation officials told residents the Nov. 10 meeting was a first step in deciding what engineering changes might be warranted at the intersection and along Ford Parkway, but stressed that no specific fixes or timelines have been approved. They said any redesign would likely need to balance pedestrian visibility, turning movements for heavy trucks and buses, and the corridor's role as a key east-west route, even as crash data show roughly a dozen collisions along Ford Parkway east of the river in the past five years, making it a local hot spot for traffic incidents.^[1]

Some residents at the session argued that incremental fixes such as better signals and flashing beacons are overdue, pointing to the repeated crash history on the corridor, while others pressed for more sweeping changes to slow vehicles and limit left turns at the intersection during peak times. Officials, in turn, emphasized that the meeting will feed into a broader analysis of options that could include signal timing adjustments, new turn phases, or physical changes to the crosswalks and medians, but cautioned that any construction would come only after engineering studies, additional community input and funding decisions in the months ahead.^[1]

1. FOX 9