Riding home last night from work, while going heading north on a flyover between Mopac and 183, there was a swam of police cars blocking the southbound flyover, and I saw several officers with flashlights peering down over the side of the bridge to the road 50′ below.
This particular flyover is a sharply-curved single lane, where cars switch freeways at about 60 mph, even though the posted “safe” speed is 35 mph. The only thing keeping you from going over if you mess up is a 3-foot tall concrete retaining wall.
I didn’t see a wreck or any non-police vehicles on the road, so I had a sinking feeling that somone had gone over the side of the bridge.
This was in this morning’s paper:
A 58-year-old man died early Wednesday morning after he apparently lost control of his motorcycle on a freeway flyover and fell about 50 feet, Austin police said.
Police found the motorcycle on the flyover connecting southbound U.S. 183 to southbound MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1) at about 3:30 a.m., but couldn’t find the driver, police spokeswoman Toni Chovanetz said. At about 6 p.m., a passer-by found the man’s body in a grassy median below the flyover, Chovanetz said. The man was wearing a helmet, she said.
Whenever I ride over these flyovers, I’m always exceptionally cautious, and I always envision what would happen if I didn’t make the curve and hit that wall. My vision is exactly what happend to that rider last night.
__________
UPDATE — Police identify rider as Jimmy Erwin of Austin.
Email This Post
⋅
Print This Post
Austin Bloggers News and Announcements at 00:08 PM » Jo’s Coffee in XL – “social landscape”–social landscape at Jo’s on South Congress and a glimpse of the famous and soon-to-be famous. via Jo’s Coffee Blog at 09:46 AM » Motorcyclist Dies after 50-foot Fall–I always envision what would happen if I didn’t make the curve and hit that wall. My vision is exactly… via UrbanGrounds at 09:09 AM » January Statistics released for the Austin Real Estate Market
My daughter hit some gravel on that flyover while driving her Sentra and lost control of her car. Fortunately she just tore up the side of her car. Thank goodness she wasn’t on a motorcycle.
Well, at least he was wearing a helmet.
If you take the southbound flyover from 183 to Mopac, you will see almost a solid wall of skid marks on the sides of the barriers…both sides. This is a death trap. TXDot has been notified MANY times.
After taking the exit toward the flyover, you have to drive slightly uphill … as you crest the hill, you are immediately confronted with a sharp division in the road, one lane goes north, the other south. Both directions require that you make a sharp curve and there is no warning sign AT ALL that you need to reduce your speed. I’ve never seen a 35-mph posted sign … maybe the flyover from south north has one but not this one.
This is not the first motorcylist that has gone over the barrier. I know of one other and I imagine there are more. After a holiday, when people not familiar with that particular intersection have been traveling, the number of skid marks increases dramatically.
Someone needs to be sued … maybe the director of TXDOT?