Fatal cyclist collision sparks renewed calls for safer infrastructure in Windsor

The recent death of a cyclist on Lauzon Road has renewed concerns about Windsor’s cycling infrastructure.

Windsor police are continuing to investigate the death of a cyclist at the corner of Lauzon Road and Edgar Street on June 30 after they were struck by the driver of a vehicle.

The exact circumstances of the collision have not been released by police. No charges have been laid so far.

John Borovich, who has been cycling along Lauzon Road for more than 50 years, was in the area at the time of the fatal collision.

“I heard about it. I saw the blood. I knew something would happen eventually,” said Borovich, adding Lauzon Road is akin to a race track.

“If a police officer stays here for one day, he will fix his quota in one day.”

John Borovich rides his bicycle at the intersection of Lauzon Road and Edgar Street where a cyclist was fatally struck by a vehicle on June 30, 2024. (Sanjay Maru/CTV News Windsor)

According to one city councillor, Windsor is lagging behind other cities and is failing to meet the expectations outlined by the city’s unanimously-approved Active Transportation Master Plan.

“We have to stop looking at the master plan as an aspirational document. It’s a plan that we need to follow through with. It’s a commitment that we made to the community,” said Ward 9 Councillor Kieran McKenzie.

McKenzie points to bollards put up along a short stretch of Cabana Road in front of Roseland Public School back in 2021.

With the exception of multi-use trails, the Roseland Public School bollards are the only physical barrier between cyclists and vehicles in Windsor.

“They are the most cost-effective, easy way to create a separated cycling track for people to use in the public right-of-way,” he said, adding they come with financial ramifications to the city.

“If people want to cycle through the winter, there needs to be snow removal equipment that can accommodate a separated bike lane. We currently don’t have that.”

While McKenzie said he would like to see more of these bollards installed throughout the city, the ones by the school have an ironic significance to Windsor’s cycling community.

That’s because they were installed to discourage illegal parking in front of the school. Improved cyclist safety was not a motivating factor, according to McKenzie.

“There was a plan many years ago for the entire stretch of Cabana to have a separate and dedicated bike lane but that got changed. We still have a bike lane but it’s not separated,” said McKenzie.

The differences between cycling infrastructure in Windsor and other cities are clear, according to one woman CTV News spoke with who is visiting the city from Ottawa.

“There are lots of bike lanes in Ottawa. The cyclists feel very safe on small streets and main roads as well,” said Mradula Pankhania.

That’s compared to a city like Windsor which is lacking bike lanes along many of its main arteries, including Lauzon Road.

Meanwhile, there are intersections in Ottawa which have separate traffic signals dedicated to cyclists.

“You’ll see, near the traffic light, a green bike or a red bike. That’s a cue for the cyclists to know when to stop and when to go,” Pankhania said, adding she is shocked by the low number of bike lanes she has seen while driving through some of Windsor’s residential neighborhoods.

As for McKenzie, he pointed to three reasons why Windsor’s cycling infrastructure is not more advanced: a lack of necessary maintenance equipment, budget constraints, and “political will.”

“I think when we passed the Active Transportation Master Plan, there was a clear document that said we’re going to do A, B, C and D, and there’s a timeline through which we were going to do it,” said McKenzie.

“I think, increasingly, the community has seen that we’re not following through with the plan that we told them we were going to follow.”

The City of Windsor’s operations manager was unavailable for comment Wednesday.

In an interview with AM800 Tuesday, Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens, in response to a question about whether Windsor needs physical barriers separating cyclists and vehicles, said he doesn’t believe it would be practical to implement them throughout the entire city.

However, he did acknowledge there are some busy parts of the city where the installation of physical barriers could be considered.