Article content continued

Google Street View

Ghost bikes mark the spots of at least three other cycling deaths in the city: Krista Johnson, killed on the Bronson Bridge in October 2012; Mario Theoret, killed on Merivale Road at Hunt Club Road in October 2013; and Meg Dussault, who died in July 2013 when she was struck at the intersection of Bank Street and Riverside Drive.

Dussault’s bike was acquired, painted and anonymously placed at the site by Old Ottawa South resident James Hunter. Hunter said he doesn’t think the memorial poses a safety issue.

“I’ve cycled by and seen people in electric wheelchairs get by it no problem,” he said. “It takes up a bit of space but it’s there to remind drivers and cyclists to be careful.”

For Hunter, the real issue is that same corner is still quite dangerous for cyclists. He said pedestrians clog the bike path when there’s big events or games at Lansdowne Park.

Hunter said if the city continues to insist that something has to change, he thinks an appropriate alternative would be to elevate a ghost bike on a post, which he says he’s seen in a different part of town.

“It’s not blocking the ground and it’s not blocking snowplowing,” he said. “Something like that where you use the real bike but it’s more out of the way would be a good idea.

Both Dussault and Johnson’s ghost bikes are in Chernushenko’s ward. He recognizes the need for a bylaw, although he, too, feels that a 90-day limit is too short.

Chernushenko supports Naçu’s idea of a permanent monument, one that inspires as well as memorializes.

“What we didn’t want is a message that said ‘Come, grieve, and oh, by the way, cycling is dangerous,'” Chernushenko said.

“One thing all the fatalities had in common was that they were all very keen cyclists. They saw it as freedom … as joy. Their friends know how much they loved cycling. That should be recognized and celebrated.”

bcrawford@ottawacitizen.com

Twitter.com/getBAC