Advocate who pushed for safer streets killed while biking in Macon

Louis Michael Ryan knew better than most the dangers people on foot face on Middle Georgia roads. 

That didn’t stop him from walking or biking just about everywhere he went. 

“I’m out a lot and I have a lot of close calls,” Ryan told a reporter on the steps of city hall after a Macon-Bibb County Pedestrian Safety Review Board meeting he attended in November 2023.

Ryan was killed while riding his bicycle southbound along Gray Highway on Dec. 22. According to a crash report from the Jones County Sheriff’s Office, Ryan was in the outer part of the right lane when a 73-year-old at the wheel of a white 2012 Ford Escape struck the bike from behind near Braswell Lake Road shortly before 3:30 p.m. 

The impact knocked Ryan and his bike into a ditch. He died instantly. The woman driving the SUV told a sheriff’s deputy “she did not see the bicycle nor the rider until the bicycle struck” her car, according to a deputy’s write-up of the crash. 

The report also states that Ryan was “in the lane of travel and not on the shoulder and did not yield to the traffic traveling on the roadway.” The investigation is ongoing, and no charges have been filed against the driver.

People who knew Ryan say he was a staunch advocate for safer streets, an environmentalist and a defender of low-income neighborhoods where road projects threatened tree canopies and further jeopardized the safety of those on foot.

“He rode everywhere on his bicycle,” said Lee Martin, who befriended Ryan about 30 years ago after reading a newspaper article in which he was quoted about the need for safer streets.

Ryan’s quotes resonated with Martin so much so that he called the reporter to ask for Ryan’s phone number, which was unlisted in the phone book. Their friendship blossomed instantly, Martin recalled.

“We were like two peas in a pod, the way we thought,” Martin said, adding that he didn’t learn of Ryan’s death until Christmas Eve. “I was devastated. … It was a shock to me.” 

Ryan was an outspoken critic of local government and regularly wrote editorials for The Macon Telegraph over the past few decades. His chosen topics ranged from opposing zoning decisions to protesting tax increases, reducing light pollution or filing civil rights complaints that charged the Georgia Department of Transportation with “ramrodding” road projects through minority neighborhoods.

The bespectacled cyclist was born in Peoria, Illinois. He graduated from the University of South Carolina with bachelor’s and law degrees, according to his obituary. He taught students in Georgia, Japan, Poland and Germany.

Ryan could often be spotted walking with his wife, Yukiko Ryan, near their home, which is wedged between Mercer University’s police department, its admissions office and Interstate 75.

In the early 2000s, Ryan fought to stop the county from allowing Mercer University to build too close to his home on Carling Avenue. The Stadium Drive connector, which cuts by his home on the edge of campus, was set to run straight through his house. He led the campaign against the connector, sued the county’s planning and zoning board, and represented himself in court.  Ultimately, the county chose a cheaper option, one that circumvented his home.

“He was fearless,” Martin said of Ryan. “He was very healthy for his age. He wore thick glasses and sometimes he would get in your space, but that was just Michael. He was very determined about what he thought. When it comes to road safety, he was 100% correct. Unfortunately, neither he or I have had much success improving the safety of our roads. … But he got frustrated.”

Ryan served on the Pedestrian Safety Review Board, which Elaine Lucas helped create in 2015 when she served on the county commission.

Lucas said she was shocked to learn of Ryan’s death.

“He really was a true advocate for people, especially folks in lower-income areas,” Lucas said. “He rode all over Macon and hiked all over the world, but right here in Macon is where he worked with pedestrian safety to limit hazards especially for poor people. … He joined in to help this community to be safer, and he was frustrated that things moved slowly. He just wanted to see some change. He was the kind who knew what he believed and couldn’t see why others didn’t think safety was a priority.”

Lucas described Ryan as “dogged” in his pursuit of safer streets. Sometimes the two butted heads during meetings. Ryan did not use flowery language about the issue of deadly streets. He  did not mince words — even if it landed him in hot water with politicians who have different priorities.

On trips around the globe with his wife, Ryan often sent emails to the board — quippy, short greetings from other continents to let everyone know why he wasn’t in attendance. In those notes, Ryan often mentioned hikes, bike rides or long walks he and his wife enjoyed in exotic places. He also would mention the rarity of pedestrian deaths at those locales.

“Yuki and Michael had walked and ridden bicycles all through Israel and Europe, possibly South America,” Martin said. “All of that and they never had any kind of accident. And then in his hometown, he gets hit by a car and killed. It makes no sense.”

Martin last saw Ryan three days before his untimely death. Late that Friday, while Martin was helping a customer at closing time in his billiards store on Hardeman Avenue, Ryan wheeled in on his bike.

“It was dark and Michael walked in,” Martin said. “I hadn’t seen Michael in a while. We both pledged to try to see each other more often. … I think he just loved to ride a bicycle. He did not like cars..  .. I don’t think he ever thought he’d die.”