By Bob Seidenberg

Sharon Perrino, a 22-year resident of Evanston’s downtown, is on a mission to promote sidewalk safety.

Still recovering from injuries she suffered when she was knocked down by a cyclist June 29, the 75-year-old has been pressing officials to put measures in place, reminding riders to walk their wheels on sidewalks downtown.

“A person can go from being self-sufficient to spending the rest of their lives in a nursing home,” she told Evanston City Council members, speaking during the citizen comment portion of the Sept. 9 meeting. “With all the elderly in the downtown, the North Shore [now The Merion], the Mather – all the various condominium buildings that house seniors, people with disabilities, individuals with walkers, wheelchairs, etc. – ignoring the need would be nothing short of downright negligence.

“The city of Wheaton, along with Wilmette, Winnetka and numerous other communities, have successfully installed walk-your-wheels signage in their commercial areas, making pedestrian safety number one. We can do the same. We Evanston residents shouldn’t have to share the sidewalks with wheeled vehicles. ‘Walk your wheels’ sandwich boards should be posted throughout the downtown area.”

Perrino was hit as she was walking south on Maple Avenue early June 29, a Saturday morning, returning from the Evanston’s Farmer’s Market, she said in an interview.

Enough space for two city lots

“I was feeling on top of the world, carrying back my produce and what have you,” she recalled.

“Not another soul was around that morning,” she said. “It was deserted except for me and the cyclist. No cars, bikes or pedestrians were in the area. If you are familiar with the space, you know it is massive … easily the size of two city lots. A turn-around for cabs and cars and double sidewalks on both the east and west.”

“This cyclist could have easily avoided me,” she continued. “First of all, he should have been in the street and not on the sidewalk, and he had numerous options but didn’t take any of them.”

Evanston paramedics transported her to Skokie Hospital, where she was treated for multiple injuries.

“My wrist is broken in two places,” she said on Sept. 9. “I have soft tissue damage to my knee, bruised ribs and numerous cuts and bruises. I will continue to need occupational and physical therapy for weeks to come.”

Under state law, bikes are illegal on sidewalks so long as there is some kind of signage present, she pointed out. Evanston ordinance states that persons who reside in the city and operate their bikes in the public way must register their bikes. No riding on sidewalks is permitted in the Central Business District. And anyone found in violation of the ordinance could receive a citation with a fine up to $100.

As Perrino began recovering from her injuries, she wrote a number of city officials, including Mayor Daniel Biss, reminding them of laws in place to protect pedestrians.

No tickets issued

“Cyclists are supposed to walk their bikes when on sidewalks, but nobody ever does,” she said in her letter to Biss. “You know it and I know it.”

“When, if ever, has a ticket been issued to a cyclist offender in Evanston? Never, I would say never,” she said in the same letter.

The mayor, expressing regret about the terrible circumstance she was going through, put her in touch with Sarah D. FioRito, the city’s transportation and mobility coordinator.

FioRito noted in an email to Perrino that the city is developing some new sidewalk safety programs in collaboration with business district partners over the next year.

“We are also in conversation with our traffic safety team about safe sidewalks policy,” FioRito said.

“The City is considering additional signage, such as sidewalk stamps and stickers, and formal communications to improve sidewalk safety, especially in the business district,” wrote Cynthia Vargas, the city’s engagement and communication manager, responding to the RoundTable. She said the city does not have a time frame for the changes at this time.

Wheels of progress’ are slow

In her follow-up email to FioRito, Perrino said that she appreciated that the city is planning to do something in the future that will hopefully “improve our present Wild, Wild West, out-of-control sidewalk-situation; however, we all know that the wheels of progress move slowly.

“I recently asked the police if the bicyclist who hit me was given a ticket,” she wrote. “The answer was no. Shocking!!! I’m stuck with hundreds of dollars’ of doctor’s bills and nothing happens to the offender. Perhaps I didn’t sustain enough injuries in the officer’s discretion.

“Let’s assume that the reason none of the above has been done is because the City has invested big time into being a host City for Bicyclists,” she wrote. “That being said, one can only assume that the City does not want to tarnish its well-known WELCOMING reputation by expecting bicyclists to adhere to rules that would keep pedestrians safe.

“This is further affirmed,” she maintained “with the approval of Resolution 33-R-24 [approved by the City Council May 28] authorizing Good Neighbor funds from Northwestern University of $75,000 for bike and e-bike incentives in order to grow Evanston’s bicycle community.

“If you want to be educational and instructional,” she suggested in the followup e-mail to FioRito, “post rules of the road info at the bike racks and at the bike rental stations, keeping it brief ‘Walk Your Wheels’ when on the sidewalks. Also, sandwich-board curb signs at all the corners, and, if necessary, in the middle of the block, stating, ‘Walk Your Wheels or receive a fine of $100.’”

Perrino also let her feelings be known at an Aug. 23 Envision Evanston 2045 workshop held at the main public library with transportation and mobility as its focus.

Nearly all of the 28 or so participants in the room were cyclists, she noted.

During the conversation, she pointed out that cyclists ride on sidewalks in the commercial area, interrupting the pro-biking vibe. She emphasized she wasn’t against bikes.

“And I looked at them and said, ‘You know it and I know it,’” she recalled, “and they all looked real sheepish until one guy said, ‘That’s because we don’t feel safe on the streets.’ And then I said, ‘Well, all you have to do is walk your bikes on the sidewalks. It’s a simple matter.’”

At another point in the discussion, she used the same “wild, wild West,” analogy she had used in her email to FioRito.

The moderator that the consultant, HDR, was using for the session, challenged the statement as not true, “and I went into orbit,” she said. “Excuse me,” Perrino recalled saying, “You are supposed to be using this hearing to gather information, not augment it or diminish it to your liking.’”

‘Hitting a senior citizen … can be life changing’

Perrino, who is an interior designer and one of the original owners at Optima Towers, conceded in her letter to the mayor, “If I sound angry it’s because I am. I have always worked hard since I was a teenager to exercise, eat right and stay healthy and in a matter of seconds that all went away. Hitting a senior citizen with a bike can be life changing.”

Now, when she leaves her centrally placed condominium for a walk downtown, formerly a favorite activity, “I look in all directions,” she said in her interview. “I look behind me when I come out the doorway. I look both ways, but then even as I walk part of the way down the street, I look behind me because they can be coming in either direction.”

On Labor Day weekend, after not having a car for two years, she bought one. She sometimes uses it to drive to the beach, a walk she used to love, “because I feel safer in a car than I do on the sidewalks of Evanston.

“Now that’s a sad situation,” she said.