Cyclist dies in Cambridge
October 29, 2009
By Cherri Greeno, Record staff
CAMBRIDGE - A 20-year-old Cambridge cyclist is dead after he was struck by a vehicle just before midnight Wednesday on a dangerous stretch of road near Highway 401.
Shane Vandermeer died after he was hit by a vehicle getting off the Eastbound 401 ramp to Franklin Boulevard.
Vandermeer was biking south on Franklin Boulevard when he was hit by the vehicle. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Initially, the OPP were asking for the public's help in identifying the cyclist. However, they were able to track down his family early Thursday morning after receiving tips from the public.
The driver of the vehicle was at the scene when police arrived. No charges have been laid.
That stretch of road has been the subject of a feasibility study being conducted by city officials. The study will help figure out where to build a pedestrian bridge over Highway 401.
"It's a very dangerous area," Mayor Doug Craig said this morning. "The whole thing is very dangerous for pedestrians and for cyclists."
The road has worried local politicians for years because people are forced to walk over the narrow Franklin Boulevard bridge to cross Highway 401.
The bridge is the only practical way to get from Hespeler to north Galt for cyclists and pedestrians.
But the west side has only a narrow sidewalk and pedestrians must cross traffic exiting from the 401 to Franklin. On the east side, there's a ramp for traffic to enter the freeway but no sidewalk at all.
In April 2007, Lyle Prior, 83, was killed at the exit ramp, which prompted the city to post "No Pedestrians" signs.
Craig said he has talked to the Ministry of Transportation - even once bringing the minister out to the area - but as of yet, the province is showing no interest in widening it.
"We can't touch the bridge because it's a provincial bridge," Craig said. "We can't get the province to do anything. We've done everything we can as a city."
Craig wasn't sure when the study would be completed. It is being funded by the city and Waterloo Region.
Critical Mass, what a blast
It was with great trepidation and a lot of hand wringing that people were talking about the upcoming Mass. Its going to be horrible, one said, there are going to be tons of cops, another said. I knew different. I know, I know the cops are always crazy when it comes to mass. Its like going to dinner with an insane person. One minute they are giving you a glass of their finest wine and then the next they are trying to strangle you with the cork. But of course we are talking about the police and they wouldn't do anything mean to cyclists now would they, they are just doing their job right?
Well if doing their job is dishing out tickets and pushing people off their bikes then they are doing their jobs fantastically. Of course they are police and they can do whatever they want. This is also a post about CM and not about my extreme hatred for the police. So anyway, we were talking about the Mass and how the cops were going to be there in the thousands to beat us all into submission, but I knew different.
No, I am not an under cover cop as some people have mumbled in the past, though i look awesome with a moustache, I am just a long time attendee of CM and over the many years that I have been going to this fantastic event I have noticed a few things about the behaviour of the police. The first thing is that they are pretty concrete on when they are going to show up.
The reason they came out last month, in my humble opinion was that they had remembered the ride on the Gardenier and were determined not to have it happen again. There was also no major street closing event with sexy half naked people going on at the same time. I speak of course of Pride. Yes folks, the gay people saved us from the iron boot of the police.
The police were to busy being down on Church St. Ooogling half naked men and woman and were to busy to be bothered with a bunch of helmeted geeks like us. Not to say there was not interaction with the police during the ride. I saw many cops drive by us and not make any contact. I saw a cop on a side street sitting patiently and at one point hit his siren to freak everyone out, it did and when i looked at him he was laughing at our reaction. I saw another cop pull over a driver who went into oncoming traffic to get around the mass. So this time they were having fun, they were helping us out and they were ignoring us.
Because of that the ride was fantastic. I was talking with someone on the ride and I was telling him how in the old days, almost one hundred years ago, if the mass got split up by the cops by forcing us to stop at lights, the forward part of the ride would stop and wait. If someone got a ticket, the whole ride would stop and wait. Eventually the police would realize that they were the ones screwing up traffic and get us on our merry ways. Maybe its time to return to that kind of tactic.
As far as next month, I predict that the police will also not be at the mass because they will have to be dealing with all the people coming for Caribanna. As for the ride that happened last night, it was beautiful, huge and pretty well conflict free. Message to the police, thanks for the help, but we can get along just fine.
Americans Love our Beer
Greetings Toronto we have finally returned from out space voyages and destroyed the nefarious Kill bot 7056. we return to the planet of our birth with fantastic stories of star faring creatures who’s traverse the skies in human powered spaceships. ten thousand beings pedaling as one as they move from one beautiful star to another. Working IN unison these hydrogen breathing creatures know no fear except for that of humanity and its penchant for taking anything thing that is beautiful and turning it into a marketable item. prepare for their arrival and be afraid be very, very afraid.
Podcast: Download
Robots invade, Bicycle escape pod!!!!!
Hello you are listening to Caught in the Headlights, this is issue number 6 and i am your host Scott Ossington. The time of year is here my pretties, that magical space on the calendar when the trees begin to wake up, the chirping of those damn birds, the skittering of squirrels on your window sill and the howling of your kitten as she goes into heat. Yes dear listeners its spring.
Spring is in the air
everywhere I look around
Spring is in the air
every sight and every sound
Maybe its the smell of melting dog poo
On the sidewalk and front yards
Or its the way that I am feeling
when all the hot girls and guys ride by
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Taking the tooker!!!!
We got a lot of fantastic things going on on the show today. We take the long ride with Angela Bischoff and Hamish Wilson as they deliver an amazing 5600 signatures to City Hall demanding a bike lane on Bloor street, stretching the length of Toronto. Evidently their cycling Toronto includes Etobicoke. We do our usual pilfering from the Internet, actually now that I think about it, Pilfering from the Internet would be way better name then Bike Shorts and we have a conspiracy theory that has nothing to do with bicycles, but has everything to do with our second favourite subject, The Toronto Police Department. Stick around we have an arresting show great show and it might well be entertaining.
Podcast: Download
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Puff the Magic Dragon
Where did I put those socks
- Jane’s dad
- Bike Bike Volunteer Call Out
- MECfest
- Oh yes, this post needs a title!!
- Bicycle parts not considered weapons or at least not brass knuckles
Deese R’ da Daze dat we Rote
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