MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee woman spoke out after being brushed by a car while trying to cross a busy street downtown Milwaukee near Fiserv Forum. This is not the first time pedestrians have been hit in the area north of the arena.
Two weeks ago, Wendy Patterson and her friend say they were almost hit while walking back to their car near McKinley Ave. and Martin Luther King Junior Drive after an Admirals game.
“As we were going halfway through the intersection, a car decided to floor it through the red light, almost striking my friend and I. If I had not been sober, awake, and alert, I would not be standing here, to be honest,” said Patterson. “They did brush my coat when they drove by.”
In the past, TMJ4 News has reported on people getting hit in the same area between 6th Street and MLK Dr. and McKinley and Juneau.
In August of 2022, Xavier Casanova Davis, 23, was killed crossing the street near 6th and Juneau. In 2019, the Eager family was hit trying to go to the Fiserv Forum. Danielle Eager and her two children were hit and were seriously hurt, but survived.
In the area north of Fiserv Forum between 6th and Martin Luther King Dr to the west and the east and McKinley and Juneau to the north and the south, there have been eight crashes involving pedestrians since 2019, according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Those crashes include the death of Davis and the serious injuries suffered by the Eager family.
In the area south of Fiserv Forum, between 6th and Martin Luther King Dr and Highland and State Street, there were six crashes involving pedestrians, one serious.
Even further to the south between 6th and Martin Luther King Dr and Kilbourn and Wells, there have been five crashes involving pedestrians.
There were also five crashes in that same area between Kilbourn and Wells.
Wendy feels something needs to change either with the street design or enforcement.
"They really need to do something down here with the traffic and that is the first line of defense. That really needs to happen,” said Wendy.
Wendy never reported her incident to the police because she says she didn't see the vehicle and she wasn't hurt.
Milwaukee Police said in a statement, “They provide extra duty officers and traffic control for events at the Fiserv Forum to include motorcycle officers for traffic control to provide safe egress of pedestrians from the arena.”
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