On Oct. 18, Krista Johnson, a graduate student here at Carleton, was struck by a car and killed while riding home on her bicycle. Krista was a friend, a daughter, and an exceptionally gifted student. She will be sorely missed by the Carleton community and all those loved ones she has left behind.
Krista could have been any one of us. She could have been your friend, your sister, your professor – maybe even you.
The students, faculty, and staff who cycle to and from Carleton and who live towards downtown Ottawa face Krista’s perilous journey every day. No matter how much we want to avoid it, we have to cycle on Bronson. There are no convenient, alternate routes for us to cross the Rideau Canal. When the Bronson bridge was re-built in 2009, nobody was thinking of cyclists. The result? Cars race down the road at terrifying speeds, the lines demarcating bike lanes are confusing, and in some cases, cyclists can’t cross to the right side of the road. Try to take the pathway out of Carleton from the northeast side of campus, and you’ll discover you can’t cross over to northbound traffic. So we cyclists must either ride on the sidewalk or ride in the bike lane opposing traffic – both of which are illegal.
Krista’s death has produced one of those rare moments iat Carleton when students, faculty, and the university staff have come together to speak with one voice. We cannot allow such a tragedy to happen again to one of our own.
Carleton president Roseann Runte has publicly stated that she wants measures to be put in place immediately to prevent such tragedies from happening again. Friends and family of Krista have also spoken out against the poor cycling infrastructure. Hundreds are signing petitions to make Bronson safer for all users of the road. Together, we can make change happen.
In the short-term, we need to pressure city council to make Bronson safer immediately. We must push for lower speed limits, and find whatever other immediate solutions are necessary to prevent more cycling tragedies. We must come together to sign petitions and do whatever else is necessary to keep pressure on our local politicians. We bikers must also take responsibility for our safety by wearing helmets, equipping our bikes with lights, and signaling when turning.
But we also need to look ahead and plan for the needs of our university community five, 10, and 20 years from now. More of us are turning to bicycles as our main method of transportation, and as gas prices continue to rise, this trend looks as if it will continue. Recognizing this, the Graduate Students’ Association has installed a tune-up station by the University Centre. The University of Toronto and other universities have gone further, providing an on-campus do-it-yourself bike shop, where staff and volunteers are on hand to help students maintain and fix their bikes, as well as promote bike safety.
And yes, maybe the bridge on Bronson just won’t work for cyclists or pedestrians, regardless of how much we can do to improve safety in the short-term. In the long term, we need to think about a new foot and cycle bridge, like the one beside UOttawa. We must plan better to provide integrated bike routes that avoid high traffic areas like Bronson. But this will only happen if we continue to stand together, and to put pressure on our local officials to act.
You can be a part of the change for a safer community by signing the petition to the City of Ottawa and the National Capital Commission to “Make Bronson safer!” You can do this online at change.org/Bronson. You can also take part by signing a petition on campus, or by getting other students to sign by going to the GSA in the University Centre. Together, we can bring about positive change, and hope that Krista’s untimely death was not entirely in vain.
