First posted: 11:22 a.m.
Last updated: 5:40 p.m.
Parts of Sheridan Road were closed this afternoon due to an accident involving a motorcyclist, the university reports.
The accident occurred at approximately 9:26 a.m., according to Commander Tom Guenther of the Evanston Police Department, when a northbound motorcycle collided with a pickup truck on the 1900 block of Sheridan Road. A Major Crash Accident Team responded to the scene, and sent the motorcycle driver to the hospital for treatment.
“The crash is currently under investigation and the motorcycle driver’s condition is unknown at this time,” Guenther said
As of 10:12 a.m., parts of Sheridan were to remain closed for about two hours to allow an investigation of the accident. During that time, traffic, including shuttle buses, was rerouted between Foster Street and Chicago Avenue.
Sheridan Road re-opened some time between 1:15 and 1:30 p.m., according to University Relations Vice President Al Cubbage.
SESP junior Alex Sims had just crossed the street onto Sheridan from Emerson when she heard the collision of the motorcycle with a green pickup truck.
“It was really, really loud…then I saw the motorcycle fall down, pretty hard. The helmet broke, there was blood splattering, and yeah, I kind of panicked,” said Sims, who was walking by another female student who called 911.
“The police showed up right away, but it took a while for the ambulance to show up. The guy on the motorcycle was down for almost five minutes,” Sims said. “It was pretty scary because we weren’t sure how fast they would get there, and he wasn’t moving.”
Cubbage said that according to University Police, the motorcyclist injured in the accident does not appear to have a connection to Northwestern, and he had not received any such information about the driver of the pickup truck.
Megan Friedman and Chloe Benoist contributed reporting.