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Another Ballard missing link broken wrist

A 55-year-old woman crashed and broke her wrist after her wheel got trapped in the train tracks (via Google Maps)

According to a recent BikeWise report, the Burke-Gilman missing link through Ballard has struck again, this time breaking a biker’s wrist. On August 29, a 55-year-old woman’s tire got stuck in the railroad tracks and she fell:

Rider rode into the rut adjacent to the rail and was unable to recover, and was pitched over onto her left side. Caught herself with her left hand, breaking said wrist.


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Dislocated and broken left wrist (both bones) and ulna fracture.

I don’t know what an ulna fracture is, but I bet it sucks (I Googled it, and it truly does suck). I wish her a speedy recovery.

Can we fix this now?


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3 responses to “Another Ballard missing link broken wrist”

  1. Andreas

    It’s always hard to tell from BikeWise crash reports where the actual location was, but assuming it really was near the long/lat given in that report, that location has sharrows directing cyclists where to ride in the roadway, and railroad is outside the roadway, on the other side of a solid white line. The crossing symbols shown in your screenshot seem to be leftovers from a prior roadway configuration; looking at that area in context, there’s generally no reason a cyclist would be crossing the tracks there or even come into contact with the tracks at all unless they drift (or are forced) off the roadway.

    The primary Missing Link crash spot is one block west, where the tracks actually cross the roadway, forcing cyclists to deal with them; at this location, it sounds like the cyclist simply went off the roadway and into the rut for no apparent reason (at least, none is given in the report). I feel for the cyclist, but this strikes me as a generic accident, not a Missing Link accident.

    1. Tom Fucoloro

      I disagree. I often see people get completely confused when the trail ends and dumps you onto 45th. It seems like every time I ride by, someone is riding either on the other side of the tracks or riding right between the tracks. Sure, this may be a symptom of inexperience, but bikers first starting out are likely going to start on the trail. In the accident described here, her reasons for ending up in the track are not described, and I can’t speculate on her experience. However, if the trail were completed, this would not be a problem, since it would presumably be clear where you should safely ride (clearer signage of how to navigate the area leading up to the trail’s end could help, too).

      The little “bike in a house” markings on 45th do give an indication that you should ride on the street, not the tracks. But for people who do not want to ride on the street, the tracks might seem like a safer alternative (until they break their wrist, that is).

  2. ltarte

    I’m inclined to agree with Andreas; I’m not sure how a cyclist could fall on the tracks here unless they were both unfamiliar with the area and not paying attention to the road surface. Though my sympathies to the cyclist – I myself have fallen (literally) prey to to the latter on another pair of tracks. In any case, I think we can all agree that the best solution would be finally finishing the missing BGT link.

    Also, just FYI Tom, the “bike in a house” markings are actually the earliest incarnation of the sharrow.

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