Tributes poured in on Saturday for a Chicago city employee who led its bike parking program for years after he was struck and killed while biking in Bridgeport.
David Powe, assistant commissioner of the Chicago Department of Transportation, said Riley O’Neil was one of the best people he has ever known.
“CDOT lost the best of our team yesterday. We’re heartbroken,” Powe said in a post on social media.
O’Neil, 35, was riding a bike in the 3200 block of South Halsted Street at around 4:40 p.m. when he was struck by a vehicle, police said. He was transported to a local hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
Witnesses told NBC Chicago that O’Neil was riding in a bike lane when the driver of a car opened a door in front of him, causing him to lose control before he was struck by a semi-truck driver who was traveling behind him before the initial collision.
A mangled bike could be seen in the roadway in the aftermath of the crash. Though there is a bike lane on the stretch of Halsted where the crash occurred, it is designated only by a white painted line and is not concrete protected.
Police cited the driver of the vehicle that opened the door in front of O’Neil for “unsafe opening” of a car door, parking in a prohibited area, driving on a suspended license and operating an uninsured vehicle.
Chicago Municipal Code prohibits drivers from opening their door “on the side available to moving traffic unless and until it is reasonably safe to do so, and can be done without interfering with the movement of other traffic.”
O’Niel was helping lead both the city’s school zone safety work and bus priority projects before he was killed, Powe said in a post on Reddit. He also led CDOT’s bike parking program for years and “completely transformed it,” Powe said.
“He cared deeply about making biking, rolling, walking, and riding better for everyone,” Powe said.
Following O’Neil’s death, Powe said CDOT is going to start referring to certain bike racks, like the one pictured in the post, as “Riley Racks” to “make sure his legacy lives on.”
“We’d appreciate everyone’s help carrying his legacy forward,” he stated. “If you see one of these racks around Chicago, call it a Riley Rack.”
In a statement sent to NBC Chicago, CDOT said O’Neil’s loss “is being felt deeply across the department, and he will be greatly missed.”
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of our beloved colleague, Riley. We extend our deepest condolences to his family, friends, and loved ones,” CDOT said in the statement. “He was a dedicated public servant who devoted his career to making Chicago’s streets safer and more accessible for everyone.”
11th Ward Alderwoman Nicole Lee said O’Neil was “by all accounts a great public servant who was passionate about bike accessibility,” in a post on social media. Ald. Lee said O’Neil was part of the team working with the 11th Ward office to expand bike lanes on 35th Street from Halsted to Ashland as part of the city’s Smart Streets program.
www.facebook.com/AldNicoleLee/posts/pfbid0GhB1Yy1SgVfZpftJQUABZfFAYTn8zFSze8mZtVckVKabJARFtrPqtDP6cisuqemXlStreet safety activist organization Chicago, Bike Grid Now! is hosting a vigil for O’Neil at 7 p.m. on Monday at Palmisano Park, located at 2700 S. Halsted St.
O’Neil is at least the third person struck and killed by a driver while biking in Chicago this year.
In late January, a 63-year-old Roman Havelka was struck and killed by a 33-year-old driver while biking on the 8600 block of West Irving Park Road on the edge of the city’s Irving Woods neighborhood.
Damian Gomez, 18, was struck and killed while biking by a speeding driver near West 63rd Street and South Kedzie Avenue on the border of Chicago’s Marquette Park and Chicago Lawn neighborhoods.
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