Belknap Street is an accident waiting to happen in Superior

When I walked in the door last night, my daughter was sitting on the couch with her brother, tears in her eyes. I asked her what happened and she started crying and told me that she was almost hit by a car crossing Belknap – again.

She got a new bike this year and is so excited to ride her bike to school. The problem is that she has to cross Belknap Avenue to get to school. Belknap Avenue is the busiest road in northern Wisconsin. There is so much traffic there because of the detours for the construction. Most of the traffic from Minnesota has to cross Belknap Avenue because of the construction on the Duluth side of the Blatnik Bridge.

Belknap Street is essentially a four-lane highway that carries all traffic between northern Minnesota and northern Wisconsin, especially given the impending closure of the Blatnik Bridge, which will last four to five years.

We were really hesitant to let her cross Belknap Street. She’s old enough and responsible enough to do that, but we were worried about the drivers. So we walked her across Belknap Street for the first few days and then let her drive the rest of the way on her own.

Read more: Why some runners wear number 30 at Grandma’s Marathon

One of those days, a car turned onto Belknap and almost hit her because it wasn’t paying attention. In case you didn’t know, pedestrians have the right of way in a crosswalk. You shouldn’t even get too close to them.

Do we need another crosswalk on Belknap? The police let people cross the street and ticket drivers who don’t yield.

Please watch for pedestrians on this dangerous road. We will continue to drive our daughter or come up with another plan. It’s just not safe these days. A car actually ran a red light the other day because the driver was looking at her phone. Scary stuff.