Sidewalks

I was going to write a cheerful post here celebrating the fact that this morning, as the State of Emergency was lifted, there were cleared and mostly salted sidewalks downtown. It was ahead of schedule (“early next week”). I planned to ask why the Mayor didn’t announce this bit of good news in his latest update, and let people know when they could expect the school routes and other priority sidewalks to be done. It would alleviate so much anxiety for people who have no other way to get around. It would be such good news. But then I read something that made me feel anything but celebratory. This CBC article is about my colleague, engineering professor Dr. John Shirokoff, who died a few days before the blizzard, after being hit by a car while walking to the bus stop. He was walking on the street because there was no cleared sidewalk. The Dean of Engineering, Dr. Greg Naterer, saw him not long before he died and said this:

A thing that will stay with me forever is his concern for his students at that time. Just before going into surgery, not complaining, not bitter, not really talking much about his pain, but his concern for his students… He was walking along the side of Elizabeth Avenue and, as we know, pedestrian safety and clearing of sidewalks is an issue in this city.… I don’t know what the answer is. But we need to do a better job. Pedestrian safety has to be right up there. It’s not like, secondary.

It was wonderful to walk around in the sunshine this morning, safely separated from vehicle traffic, but no, I don’t feel celebratory at all. Pedestrian safety is not secondary.