Toronto isn’t doing enough to keep our city streets safe
The other day, I spontaneously dyed my hair, one of the many COVID-19 fads I have come to embrace during the lockdown. After starting to apply the box dye to my hair, I noticed tears streaming down my face in the reflection. I realized, Alex would not be here to see my newly coloured hair.
There was another brick in the wall between us now. It would be one of the many things I’d do without her; another emblem of the time that has come between us; a marker of then and now.
Alex Amaro, just 23, my best friend and fellow Ryerson journalism school classmate, was cycling south on Dufferin Street on Dec. 2. She was heading home from Dufferin Mall, one of her most treasured places, as fate would have it. We had taken that route hundreds of time together. On this tragic day, Alex was struck by three cars, and her life was taken from her and all the people who loved her.
In the two months that have followed her death, many of Alex’s friends and family have reached out to Mayor John Tory and Toronto Deputy Mayor Ana Bailao regarding solutions and action that must be taken in order to make our streets safer.
A petition demanding safety for pedestrians and cyclists has been circulating, which has received almost 13,000 signatures to support this motion. I check, almost neurotically every hour throughout the day, to see the numbers increase. To our dismay, neither Bailao or Tory have responded to our pleading words, created any concrete solution, or the bare minimum: acknowledged us and our beautiful friend’s death.
Since Alex’s accident, I have been eager to visit her site because I feel as if I am somehow meeting up with her. Upon visiting, I realize that is not the case. She’s not there. The stop sign on Sylvan Avenue, dressed with colourful bouquets, now has a small sticker that reads, “Take a Breath.” I try to do just that. As I cross to see the ghost bike, decorated with flowers, just a couple feet apart, I am almost rammed by a car. I find myself overwhelmed by the reckless speeding, lack of speed traps, or any visible change.
Torontonians continue to be killed or injured, bike lanes are either non-existent or impeded on if they are, and vehicles continue to be reckless as there are no speed traps to be seen. The list is endless. Though there have been plans and motions to make change for Toronto cyclists and pedestrians, the evidence is in the streets. A week ago, a male cyclist was hit by a car and remains in critical condition.
Alex won’t be able to have baby’s breath (which she so dearly loved) dancing throughout the room of her wedding. All the plans we made seem to be mocking me as I try to sleep. Despite the approved motion submitted by Bailao and seconded by Tory, there is no transparency in their plans to keep our streets safe.
Alex, and fellow Toronto pedestrians and cyclists, deserve better.