Miriam Katawazi, Centretown News
A ghost bike at the intersection of Bank Street and Riverside Drive.Despite the recent complaints by Ottawa residents regarding the sometimes prolonged existence of ghost bikes – impromptu memorials to cyclists killed in road accidents – Somerset Ward’s new councillor-elect Catherine McKenney doesn’t see any reason to rethink these reminders of lives lost, including one in Centretown.
McKenney stressed the importance of memorializing the deaths of cyclists and said she doesn’t see how the ghost bikes – spray-painted white and locked to a spot near the scene of the fatality – pose a problem at all.
Capital Coun. David Chernushenko however, has raised the issue of exploring an alternative to the ghost bikes after receiving multiple complaints from his constituents about the memorial placed at the corner of Bank Street and Riverside Drive.
Meg Dussault was killed at that intersection on July 30, 2013, after being struck by a cement truck. The ghost bike has been there ever since in her memory, and can frequently be seen covered in flowers and other decorations.
No complaints have been reported to the office of Coun. Diane Holmes.
Last month marked the three-year anniversary of the death of Danielle Naçu in a “dooring” accident on Queen Street; she was knocked in front of another vehicle by the opening door of a parked car. The ghost bike near the accident site was recently removed while road reconstruction is being undertaken along Queen Street.
Chernushenko declined to comment on the issue. But, in a recent radio interview with CBC, he said the city would like to help those who put up and are maintaining the Bank-and-Riverside ghost bike to move the display to a better location.
“If someone would like to have a permanent memorial, it would be great if we could find a spot that wasn’t right there in that tight and difficult sightline,” he said.
According to the City of Ottawa, some consider the memorials to be litter or a distraction to drivers. Chernushenko said some consider the memorial at Bank and Riverside to be an impediment or even a danger to pedestrians, particularly to those in scooters or wheelchairs.
There is currently no city policy on roadside memorials. But in 2013, council voted to establish a Roadside Memorial Sign Program that, according to an e-mail from the city, will “offer a more permanent opportunity for friends and family who might otherwise choose to put up a roadside memorial.”
Although McKenney says she would not be opposed to the idea of a more permanent memorial for cyclists killed in traffic accidents, she also said she “would always support the establishment of the ghost bike,” adding that they were “a very appropriate reminder.”
And, according to Centretown resident Scott Alain, a frequent cyclist in the downtown area, McKenney’s got the right idea.
“They serve as reminders both to us and to drivers to be more conscientious and aware users of the road, especially since (ghost bikes) are often found at the more dangerous junctions in the city for cyclists.”
McKenney said the redevelopment of Queen Street as part of the city’s Light Rail project will “definitely improve the safety and comfort of cyclists.”