GHOST CYCLE left in memory of retired schoolteacher John Offutt at spot where he was hit by a cement truck. Courtesy photo.
Area resident John Offutt loved to cycle and it was cycling that took his life.
The recently retired school teacher was on his out for a cycle on November 20 when he was involved in an accident in the Judson Steet and Royal York Rd. area with a cement truck, in which he lost his life.
A ghost bike to remember his death has been installed.
Former student A Hafeez says Offutt was his kindergarten teacher at Thorncliffe Park Public School.
“He was a teacher who quit his real estate job to help kids succeed in a low income neighbourhood,” Hafeez wrote on social media. “It is truly amazing that someone would do that.”
Hafeez says Offutt was a good man who loved his students and wanted them to succeed.
His death has angered members of the Judson Street community, who have been complaining to the City for years that ML Ready Mix is an uncooperative neighbour.
Residents have been complaining about the dust, noise and pollution from a steady stream of cement trucks that daily frequent the ML Ready Mix yard, on Judson St.
Police said Offutt, 59, was cycling southbound on Royal York Rd. when the truck driver, going southbound as well, made a right turn on Judson St. and hit the cyclist.
“The tragic loss of life was made all the worse by the certain knowledge that it was entirely preventable,” a citizens advocacy group wrote.
Members said City Council spent $5 million to buy the Ready Mix property in July 2018, with the goal of moving the operations to the Port Lands. The company under an agreement had a year to move to its new site on Commissioners Street.
Mimico area residents are being urged to sign an online petition, which has several hundred names, to request the concrete plant be developed into green space.
“Green space and parkland is urgently needed in the neighbourhood,” the petition states. “Please help push development of the property to provide a beautiful place to enjoy with family and friends.”
The relocation of the plant presents a strategic opportunity to further consolidate concrete batching operations in the Port Lands, while at the same time reducing land use conflicts currently experienced by the residents of the Judson Street community, the group noted.
The petition will be circulated to Mayor John Tory, Councillor Mark Grimes and other City officials.