SUPPORT CYCLING SAFETY IN CHATHAM-KENT!

Another Chatham-Kent cyclist was killed on our streets last week. Your support for safe cycling in Chatham-Kent is critically needed right now. Council needs to hear from you. Here’s why:

 

Rehabilitation of the Parry Bridge on

Keil Drive
is underway. In damp weather, the surface of this bridge is like ice under cyclist’s wheels, causing life-threatening cycling accidents. A different surface treatment (non-skid) should be added in the current rehabilitation project, but Council needs to act fast to make that happen.

 

The next step in making our streets safe for cyclists of all abilities is the installation of bike lanes on
Charing Cross Road-
 three kilometers for an estimated cost of $35,000. Council initially voted this project down, but may reverse that decision at their October 24 meeting. They need to hear form you that you care about this issue. If we don’t show that we care they won’t spend even this tiny amount of tax dollars to make cycling safe in Chatham-Kent.

 

If you care about the safety of your fellow cyclists in Chatham-Kent send an email to Council (council@chatham-kent.ca         ) to let them know, and influence the decision on these two immediate pending items. The attachment to this email gives some possible wording for your email to Council, but feel free to use your own words. Please send a blind copy of your email to memberservice@cycleck.ca so we can keep track of how many communications go to Council on this issue

  In recent weeks, a woman suffered life-threatening injuries in a fall from her bike on the icy-wet steel of Parry Bridge (

Keil Drive
), an 83-year-old Wallaceburg cyclist was hit by a car and died in hospital, and a 14-year-old boy was run down and killed on
Talbot Street
 in Blenheim. In recent years, a very experienced cyclist was killed on Bear Line, another on Park Avenue, and two buddies were run down on
Chatham Street
 in Blenheim (one died). All of these deaths might have been prevented by bicycle-friendly infrastructure – non-skid surface on the bridge, bike lanes on the streets, paved shoulders on the rural roads. None of this is extremely expensive. Anyway, what’s a life worth?                                            

Chatham-Kent’s count of reportable motor-vehicle/bike collisions is about four times the provincial average. Between 2002 and 2008 73% of those were personal injury cases requiring medical attention (i.e. call the ambulance).Why? The only difference we can find from other municipalities is that Chatham-Kent has virtually no infrastructure to support safe cycling. A small start has been made on correcting that, but Council brought progress to a dead halt by canceling funding in the 2011 budget.

 

Please act now to protect the safety of your fellow cyclists. It only takes a few minutes and a few flicks of your fingers on the keyboard, and it could save lives .Send an email to Council. Now.