Driver sentenced in Skyline Parkway hit-and-run that injured two pedestrians

A 68-year-old driver has been sentenced in a Skyline Parkway hit-and-run that injured two pedestrians, closing a case that began with a crash serious enough that the driver reportedly believed he had killed someone.

The collision happened in September and involved two people on foot. The sentence brings a criminal case to a close after a crash that was not treated as a routine traffic incident, but as one with serious consequences for the pedestrians, the driver and the broader Duluth community that uses Skyline Parkway every day.

Skyline Parkway has long been more than a scenic overlook route. The City of Duluth describes it as a corridor used for hiking, cross-country skiing and birdwatching, which puts walkers, cyclists and drivers in closer contact than on many other city roads. That mix of recreation and traffic has made safety on the parkway a recurring public issue.

The September hit-and-run sits inside a larger pattern of crashes that have kept Skyline Parkway under scrutiny. Duluth police reported a fatal vehicle crash in the 1400 block of West Skyline Parkway at about 3:30 a.m. on Feb. 4, 2024. Local reporting identified the victim as 26-year-old Logan Woock. Another Skyline-area pedestrian crash in February 2024 killed 70-year-old Kenneth Bickel.

Those deaths helped trigger a broader city response. Duluth held a public meeting in May 2024 to discuss immediate responses to recent incidents along Skyline Parkway, including a short-term trial reconfiguration near Enger Park with added signage and striping. City materials later described a project as the next step in responding to two fatal crashes in February 2024, with part of Skyline Parkway changed to a one-way section, a delineated pedestrian and bicycle area, and marked crosswalks at trail crossings.

The city’s response reflects what transportation officials already track statewide. The Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Minnesota Department of Public Safety monitor non-motorized fatalities and serious injuries as part of traffic-safety work, underscoring how pedestrian crashes remain a persistent concern well beyond Duluth.

Against that backdrop, the sentence in the September hit-and-run carries added weight. It ends one case, but it does not erase the larger question that Skyline Parkway continues to pose for St. Louis County and Duluth: how to protect the people who use the road on foot while holding drivers accountable when they fail to stop.