Johnny Jones

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Johnny Jones
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Age: 52

Location:
Atlantic Boulevard and Holmesdale Road
Jacksonville , FL 32207
United States

We heard from Johnny's brother, in May 2010 that this ghost bike has been removed, again.

Johnny Leonard Jones, a 52-year old chef and restauranteur, was killed while riding his bike in the St. Nicholas area around 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 23. He was less than a mile from his home.
According to police reports, as Jones headed north across the nine lanes and two medians where Beach Boulevard and Atlantic Boulevard connect, he was hit by a truck heading west in the two northernmost lanes.

Witnesses say the truck's driver had the green light.
Johnny Jones' neighbors told First Coast News he was a cautious bike rider, often riding several miles to his Genesis Café on Old Kings Road.
"And he was a very careful bike rider and he left riding his bicycle many times riding it all the way down to Genesis Cafe. That takes care!" said neighbor and long-time friend, Ruthie Bretana.

First Coast News went back to the intersection Wednesday afternoon to try to retrace the path of Jones' final seconds. We discovered the crossing signal button on the south side of the road did not work.
We pushed the button every few seconds. We pushed it continuously. We pushed the button more than 40-times over a 5-1/2 minute time period and several cycles of the traffic lights from all directions.
The crossing signal never switched from the red, "STOP" signal, to the white sign indicating it was safe to cross.
Neighbor Ruthie Bretana believes Jones would have taken the safest route possible.
"He wouldn't just ride out in traffic. I'm sure he wouldn't!" said Bretana.

It is not known if the switch was working properly or if it was broken at that fateful moment Johnny Leonard Jones tried to cross the street.
It is not known if he pushed the crossing button attempting to use the cross signal to get across the nine lanes and two medians.
First Coast News called the Mayor's office about the non-working crossing sign button, asking for an interview with someone from the City's Public Works Department.
A spokesperson for the City told us she would find someone for us to talk to, but we never spoke with Public Works Officials.
About twenty minutes after hanging up with the Mayor's Office, a bright orange City Public Works maintenance truck pulled up to the intersection and a worker stepped out and began dismantling the broken switch.

When our camera approached and we asked about his work, the man replied, "You'll have to talk to the Mayor's Office!"
He then stopped working, spoke for a few minutes on his phone, and then our phone rang.
It was the Mayor's spokesperson, acknowledging that we were videotaping the repair in progress.

"I can only tell you that the matter is now under investigation and in the hands of the Office Of The General Counsel," she said.
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/topstories/news-article.aspx?storyid=...
Details about the bike's installation and the improperly functioning crossing signals can be found at http://bikejax.blogspot.com/2008/07/ghost-bike-for-johnny.html and http://bikejax.blogspot.com/2008/07/update-on-johnnys-ghost-bike.html

On the site, Johnny's wife thanks them for the bike:
"I'm the wife of Johnnie Jones and the act of kindness from strangers has touched my heart more than words could ever express.
I've recently discovered that the "Ghost Bike" was donated by Zombie Bikes...I've located their address and will going by to personally thank them for their kindness.
Continue to keep me and our staff at Genesis Cafe in your prayers and if you are ever in the area please stop by and visit us at the cafe....
Again we can't thank you enough for your act of kindness."

This ghost bike is also posted on waymarking