Enough is enough.
That's the impassioned plea from Councillor Jeff Leiper, following a fatal collision involving a cyclist Thursday morning.
The 23-year-old was killed during the morning rush hour when she was struck by a dump truck at the corner of Laurier and Lyon.
"A woman was killed this morning at the corner of Laurier and Lyon on a piece of infrastructure that is supposed to be one of our - as cyclists - safe pieces of infrastructure," said Leiper as he fought back tears. "I ride through that corridor every day. I don't know what happened this morning, but I've seen in social media and I've seen in the flood of emails and I've seen from the messages you have sent me for months that you don't feel safe in that piece of infrastructure."
"I don't know what happened this morning, but I do know a lot about the dangers that I face every morning and every afternoon during my commute on this road," said Leiper. "What might have prevented an accident like this? Sorry. I shouldn't use the word accident. That's just how we're conditioned as a society, right?"
"No turns off of Laurier. Or if that's not acceptable, separate signals for pedestrians and cyclists that force cars to wait," Leiper suggested. "I don't know what happened this morning, but would not mixing our truck route and our main cycling route help save lives? I don't know what happened this morning, but would investing in safe cycling infrastructure, not just down one corridor, but through the entire city help save lives?"
Leiper made the comments Thursday afternoon in Marion Dewar Plaza where dozens of cyclists gathered to express their sadness at the woman's passing and their frustration with city cycling infrastructure. The event was held by Leiper and Somerset Ward Councillor Catherine McKenney.
"A woman was killed on the streets in this ward today and I am no longer willing to be part of a system that allows that to be normalized," said McKenney. "We normalize pedestrian and cycling deaths. They happen. We hear about them and then they go away and we never hear another thing. We never know what's changed so that it won't happen again."
"We have an average of seven pedestrian deaths in the City of Ottawa every year. Seven," said McKenney. "I don't know. Not one of my family members do I want in that number. We need to keep the most vulnerable users of our roads safer. We can do it by redesigning our streets. We can do it by forcing change."
There has been a collision involving a cyclist in Ottawa every day this week.
Cyclists who attended the rally agreed.
"It's too many deaths, too many injuries this week," said Meriza Bryden. "I was actually really, really upset and sad this morning. The girl who died is the same age almost as my sister and that really connected with me. I think the roads should be safer. I think infrastructure is just not well built in Ottawa. There shouldn't be a lane on Laurier. There should be a lane on Cooper Street, on Lisgar Street. It's just a mess."
Bryden said she would not cycle on Laurier.
"I use Cooper and I use Lisgar because Laurier is a terrible place," she said, adding it would be safer if the city installed separate lights for cyclists. "Honestly, we should be encouraging our cyclists to be on less busy streets."
Leiper encouraged cyclists to join him and McKenney in a call for safer cycling infrastructure.
"We're going into a budget process," he said. "Make your voices heard to your councillors to say when we are spending money in this city, we have to prioritize pedestrian and cycling safety. Join us."