Oshawa roads safe for cyclists during COVID-19 pandemic

By Chris Jones/The Oshawa Express

Normally biking in or around Oshawa can have a sense of danger to it, but these days aren’t normal.

With the quarantines in place due to COVID-19, many drivers have begun to work from home, leaving the roads emptier than normal. For Joe Arruda, the chair of the Durham Region Cycling Coaliton, the roads do feel safer.

“I personally have cut down on my cycling, but I do notice there’s a lot less traffic and for that reason I feel safer out there, but I’m working from home now and I’m not really commuting,” says Arruda.

He explains he may be working from home, but he is still biking every morning.

“But there is a lot less traffic, and two weeks ago when I was still going in to work I noticed it,” he explains. “So going into work, Taunton Road was empty. It sure wasn’t what I was used to.”

Every morning Arruda says he pretends he is going to work, hops on his bike around the same time he normally would and then bikes around his neighbourhood. He then comes home and grabs a shower like he would when he reached work before.

“It’s important to keep a routine, but I’m not doing the amount of time or strenuous exercise [I was before COVID-19],” says Arruda.

Arruda also notes drivers have been a little more courteous to cyclists on the road during the pandemic.

“In the evenings when we’re out walking our dogs, and practicing social distancing, I do notice a few more families out there on the neighbourhood roads. Cars would normally be coming home from work at that time and now, because the roads are empty, people seem to feel like they can go on the roads with their kids on bikes,” he explains.

He also adds cars coming through the neighbourhood also seem to be driving a little slower as well.

While he hasn’t spoken to other cyclists about it since he’s currently practicing social distancing, he is attached to a few email loops and Facebook chats because he is a member of local cycling groups.

“A lot of them are thinking about going on their social country road rides, but a lot of them have said no, they don’t want to do that. They’ll stay home and do the indoor training stuff,” he says.

He points out he’s also seen a number of what he calls “spandex guys” out on the roads by themselves as well.

“I think they’ve gotten the message that group riding right now is not a really good idea,” he says.