One Killed and Two Seriously Injured Early Sunday Morning on I-74 Bridge Pedestrian Pathway by SUV
By M.Ernat
It took nearly 5 years for the construction of the new I-74 Bridge that spans the Mississippi River between Moline, IL and Bettendorf, IA to be completed, officially known as the Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge. One of the long-awaited features of the new bridge was the pedestrian pathway (open to both pedestrian’s and bicyclists). The pathway opened on April 28th. It’s 14 feet wide and has a gap between the vehicle lanes of the bridge and where pedestrians and bikers make their way across. 
Around 2 a.m. this past Sunday, May 22nd, an SUV (Cadillac Escalade), driven by Chhabria A. Harris, 46, entered the pedestrian pathway from the Bettendorf side, and traveled almost the entire length of the span, eventually striking three people about 200 yards from the Moline pathway entrance. One of the pedestrians was killed and the other two seriously injured.
Harris is facing multiple charges, and being held on a $2 million bail, with the Moline Police Department taking the lead on the investigation in collaboration with the Bettendorf Police Department. According to an article in The Quad-City Times, both cities and both states’ Department of Transportation will be meeting “to see what measures, if any, should be taken” to prevent incidents like this from occurring in the future.
This tragedy raises some significant questions about the access of vehicular traffic to the pedestrian pathway. How could a vehicle enter that path and travel the entire span of the bridge? Does that potentially expose anyone else to liability regarding this accident? We will report further as this matter unfolds.
See the full article from the local news here – https://qctimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/watch-now-one-person-is-dead-in-i-74-bike-path-crash-suv-driver-faces/article_9d00b49b-2727-58cf-9b68-e084869ebd1b.html