A 35-year-old man was struck and killed on I-90 East near Martin Luther King Drive in Cleveland early Sunday morning, prompting a full highway closure that lasted for hours before lanes reopened. Cleveland EMS responded to the report of a pedestrian struck near I-90 and East 72nd Street, and the man was pronounced dead at the scene.
The closure alert went out at 3:45 a.m., according to ODOT spokesperson Matt Bruning, as reported by Cleveland 19 News. I-90 eastbound lanes were shut down between Martin Luther King Drive and East 72nd Street while crews worked the scene, and the road reopened only after that closure period, per Bruning. The station reported it had reached out to Cleveland police for additional details on the crash, though further information had not yet been released.
A Corridor With a Deadly History
The stretch of I-90 East near MLK Drive is not unfamiliar with tragedy. In November 2022, Cleveland firefighter Johnny Tetrick, 51, was fatally struck at the same interchange while clearing debris from a vehicle rollover — a case that later resulted in a murder and vehicular homicide conviction for driver Leander Bissell, according to WKYC. That earlier fatality underscored the persistent risk to anyone occupying travel lanes on this stretch of interstate, whether first responders or pedestrians.
The nine-mile span of I-90 running from the Euclid/Lake County border into downtown Cleveland recorded 27 fatal crashes between 2021 and 2023, according to the Euclid Police Department. That toll led local departments and ODOT to designate the corridor a dedicated Safety Corridor, adding variable messaging signs and stepped-up speed enforcement in an effort to curb the crash rate.
Third Pedestrian Incident on I-90 in Weeks
Sunday's fatality marks the third pedestrian-involved incident on Cleveland's stretch of I-90 in a matter of weeks. Just five days earlier, on August 11, an elderly male pedestrian was critically injured after being struck on I-90 East near East 152nd Street, an incident that prompted multi-lane closures, as Hoodline previously reported. And in early July, a 55-year-old man was fatally struck while standing outside his vehicle on I-90 West near West 44th Street, leading officers to arrest a 46-year-old driver at the scene.
Under Ohio Revised Code Section 4511.051, pedestrians are barred from occupying any part of a freeway right-of-way except in narrow circumstances such as an emergency vehicle breakdown, official public works duties, or use of a designated rest facility. Why the 35-year-old man was on I-90 East at 3:45 a.m. Sunday remains unknown, and it has not been established whether a vehicle breakdown occurred or whether speed or impairment played any role in the crash. It is also unclear whether Cleveland police's Accident Investigation Unit, which handles all fatal traffic crashes and severe vehicular assaults under department General Order guidelines, will pursue any criminal charges.
Cuyahoga County's Outsized Toll
The fatality adds to a grim countywide pattern. Cuyahoga County recorded the second-highest total of fatal traffic crashes among Ohio's 88 counties between 2019 and 2023, contributing to 5,773 traffic deaths logged statewide by the Ohio State Highway Patrol over that same five-year span, according to data cited by the Elyria Police Department. Statewide, pedestrians and bicyclists account for roughly 14% of all traffic fatalities despite making up only 2.6% of commute trips, per ODOT's Walk.Bike.Ohio safety report — a disparity that highlights just how vulnerable anyone on foot becomes once they are near high-speed highway traffic.
