This weblog, authored by Laura Harris, Strolling School fellow and schooling and coverage advisor for Bike Simple, follows efforts to implement life-saving interventions on New Orleans’ busy and harmful hall, St. Claude Avenue.
Strolling alongside St. Claude Avenue in New Orleans, the imbalance is unmistakable: vans and 18-wheelers barrel previous inside ft of individuals strolling and biking, a painted bike lane the one so-called safety. As somebody who makes use of this hall recurrently, I’ve skilled firsthand the every day dangers — dashing visitors, drivers failing to yield, vehicles parked within the bike lane, and the fixed pressure of navigating a road that was by no means actually constructed for folks.
The inadequacies of St. Claude are deeply rooted. Neighborhood members, advocates, and planners alike have lengthy raised alarms concerning the lack of protected crossings, the absence of protected bikeways, and the way fast-moving visitors turns an important neighborhood artery into a spot of peril. Driver conduct compounds this hazard: motorists continuously velocity nicely over the restrict, make aggressive proper and left turns by crosswalks, and block sightlines by parking illegally on the impartial floor. These behaviors aren’t simply nuisances — they’re life-threatening.
What makes this all of the extra unacceptable is that St. Claude is among the busiest corridors within the metropolis for strolling. Between Elysian Fields and Poland Avenues, the road is lined with dozens of bars, eating places, and small companies that draw neighbors and guests alike to assemble, dine, and join. It has even held a Principal Road designation, highlighting its function as a central, vibrant industrial and cultural hall. This must be a road that anchors group life — a spot the place strolling and biking really feel protected and welcome. As a substitute, its design funnels vehicles and vans at excessive speeds, forcing folks into hurt’s approach.
Again in 2008, St. Claude Avenue made historical past as the location of New Orleans’ first bike lane. On the time, it felt like progress—a glimpse of what could possibly be. However the easy painted stripe, unprotected and unaccompanied by pedestrian enhancements, proved inadequate. Sixteen years later, that limitation is painfully clear.
After I developed my Strolling School Motion Plan, the unsafe actuality of St. Claude was on the middle of it. With Bike Simple, I’ve continued elevating group voices, organizing rides and actions, and urgent town and state to implement options we all know work. Two years in the past, Bike Simple and the New Orleans Full Streets Coalition organized a group bike trip to point out Metropolis Council members, group leaders, and engineers what it’s prefer to trip alongside St. Claude — layered between dashing vehicles, navigating treacherous crossings, on a hall constructed for automobiles, not folks.
But, even these highly effective experiences led to little enchancment. Two years later, few security upgrades have been made. Parking blocks the bike lane, dashing stays rampant, and unlawful parking on the impartial floor reduces visibility—particularly at crosswalks. These are clearly preventable points, but they persist, growing hazard for anybody strolling or biking.
The distinction is putting. Simply across the nook from St. Claude, on Elysian Fields Avenue, my very own pal Ben Gregory was killed in 2015—a French Quarter artist biking residence, struck in a hit-and-run. Within the aftermath of his loss of life, town lastly put in parking-protected bike lanes on Elysian Fields. Since their set up, there have been no fatalities of individuals biking on that hall. The lesson is obvious: once we design streets for security, lives are saved.
We’re once more mourning two tragic losses on this unforgiving hall.
🕯️ In Reminiscence
Michael Adam Milam — July 12, 202536 years previous, French Quarter bartender, killed in a hit-and-run whereas biking close to Alvar Road.
Miron Lockett — July 24, 2025 Beloved New Orleans singer and actor, fatally struck by an 18-wheeler at St. Claude and Franklin Avenue.
These lives remind us that behind each statistic are folks with households, buddies, and communities who beloved them.
These tragedies hit within the midst of an election season — a second when candidates are making guarantees, and communities are evaluating their futures. For these of us who stroll and bike St. Claude, the query is straightforward: will our leaders lastly act? Will they guarantee this hall values life and group over unrestrained visitors velocity?
We should proceed urgent our state representatives and LADOTD to honor and ship on their commitments to road security. Equally, our Metropolis Council should do extra: collaborate with the state to remodel harmful state-controlled routes into protected, full streets. Too typically, these corridors are handled as commuter thoroughfares, not neighborhood streets the place folks stroll, bike, store, and collect. That disconnect has confirmed lethal.
But there’s motive for hope. The renewed consideration on these tragedies — coupled with years of advocacy — brings momentum. Throughout New Orleans and the nation, the consensus is rising: protected streets are usually not optionally available — they’re important.
St. Claude’s story is each a warning and a name to motion. These stripes painted again in 2008 mustn’t stay a logo of half-measures. As a substitute, they need to signify the start line of a long-overdue transformation — one which ensures we now not settle for preventable deaths as the price of doing nothing.
👉 To be taught extra concerning the marketing campaign for a Safer St. Claude, click on right here.
This publication was made attainable by the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC) (Contract #47QRAA20D003W). Its contents are solely the accountability of the authors and don’t essentially signify the official views of CDC. These efforts are a part of the CDC’s Lively Folks, Wholesome NationSM Initiative that’s working to assist 27 million People turn into extra bodily lively by 2027.
