Latest news with #SaloniAitawadekar
CBC
a day ago
- CBC
Mourners at vigil for pedestrian killed on Elgin Street demand safer roads
Social Sharing More than 100 people attended a vigil outside city hall on Friday evening, calling for safer roads in Ottawa after a pedestrian was killed at a nearby intersection earlier in the week. Saloni Aitawadekar, 27, died after being struck by a pickup truck near a crosswalk at Elgin Street and Laurier Avenue W. on Monday. Aitawadekar, who was a graduate of Algonquin College, worked nearby in marketing for the business management firm Accenture. She stepped out of the office for a brief stroll to get a breath of air on Monday afternoon but never returned, her colleagues said. Attending the vigil, colleague Cindy Merhi recalled Aitawadekar as a vibrant presence in the office who was excited to be building a life in Canada after emigrating from India. "She had dreams; she had ambitions; she had goals; she wanted to buy a house," Merhi said. Housemate Atri Dave said his friend was an only child who had been raised by a single mother. Since moving to Canada, Aitawadekar had been financially supporting her mother in Hyderabad. "She used to send 15,000 Indian rupees [$240] to her mother every month and that's what she was surviving on. And now that support has been pulled out of her," Dave said, explaining that friends were fundraising to repatriate Aitawadekar's body and help her mother. Aitawadekar had obtained her permanent residency earlier this year, Dave said, and had a boyfriend she planned to marry. "The next stage for her was to acquire her citizenship," Dave said. Intersection upgrades delayed The vigil was organized by Marna Nightingale, who noted that plans to upgrade the intersection at Laurier and Elgin had been delayed for years, even after a cyclist was killed nearby in 2018. "They had a chance to fix it when somebody was killed in the bike lane there," she said. After plans to upgrade the intersection were delayed last year due to jurisdictional issues, work is scheduled to begin on a multimillion dollar revamp this summer. "If it hadn't taken that extra year, she might not have died," Nightingale said. Addressing the crowd, Somerset Councillor Ariel Troster reiterated a call for the city to commit to a "vision zero" strategy to eliminate traffic fatalities. The city's current road safety action plan aims to reduce traffic fatalities by 20 per cent annually. "What is the acceptable number of deaths? No death is acceptable because of bad infrastructure," Troster said. Following speeches, Aitawadekar's friends laid a pair of her shoes next to three "ghost bikes" outside city hall that represent cyclists who have been killed.
CTV News
2 days ago
- CTV News
Ottawa residents gather to honour pedestrian killed at Elgin and Laurier
Some 'ghost shoes' are being placed at Ottawa City Hall in memory of a woman who died after being hit by pickup truck this week. CTV's Tyler Fleming reports. Ottawa residents are paying tribute to a 27-year-old woman who died Monday after being hit by a pickup truck at the intersection of Elgin Street and Laurier Avenue West. The woman has been identified as Saloni Aitawadekar, who came to Canada from India to study. Saloni Aitawadekar Saloni Aitawadekar, 27, has been identified as the victim of a fatal collision at Elgin Street and Laurier Avenue West in Ottawa, on Monday, June 7, 2025. (GoFundMe) This latest tragedy is renewing calls for the city to take action to improve safety for pedestrians, particularly at that intersection. A vigil at Ottawa City Hall was organized for Friday evening. 'She was 27. She had just gotten her permanent residence here, and she was supporting her single mother back home,' vigil organizer Marna Nightingale told CTV News Ottawa Friday morning. A GoFundMe in Aitawadekar's memory says she was a kind soul who was building a life filled with hope, love and purpose. Nightingale says Friday's vigil is meant to honour Aitawadekar and to raise concerns about what many say is a dangerous intersection. 'There are a lot of lanes. There's no advanced green for pedestrians, and people get impatient,' she said. In 2018, a cyclist was killed at the same intersection. A redesign was slated for last year, but Somerset Ward Coun. Ariel Troster says federal and provincial red tape kept the project in limbo. 'And that's what makes me deeply sad, because if it had been completed, I really wonder if this terrible accident would have happened,' Troster said. Nightingale says immediate action is needed. 'My hope with this vigil is that the city will take seriously the consequences of the delays and the ways in which they endlessly compromise safe roads.' Safety advocates agree. 'Make sure that we're allocating the budget needed to maybe get these projects done a little bit earlier, instead of waiting 10, 15, 20 years down the line,' said Marko Miljusevic, with Strong Towns Ottawa. The redesign for the intersection is now approved, and construction will start this year. 'This is a $5 million project. It is a major reconstruction of the intersection, but it's a priority. It shouldn't take one death, and now two deaths, for us to take action,' said Troster. 'And also, as a city, how do we fix the most dangerous spots in our city?'
