It's believed to be a first in Montreal – a pair of so-called ghost shoes was hung on a lamppost on Park Ave. Tuesday morning.
The ceremony was held in memory of Concepcion Cortacans, a 62-year-old woman who died after being struck by a car that went through a red light as she was crossing Park at Duluth Ave.
A small group of people gathered to hang a pair shoes at the intersection in her memory as well as a bouquet of flowers. The attendees then stood on the crosswalk, hand in hand, for about 20 seconds.
Ghost shoes are a nod to ghost bikes, bicycles painted in white and set up at places where cyclists died or were seriously injured in collisions.
Her heartbroken son Jonathan Benyamin Cortacans said he and his father weren’t going to show up to the ceremony, but decided to go at the last minute. It was the first time they had visited the scene of the collision.
“My mother, when she crossed the street, it was her green light. If she made a mistake at the moment, the mistake was that she had confidence in the green light,” he said.
City councillor Alex Norris said when that stretch of Park was redone and an extra lane was added, it made the road into a pseudo-highway.
“We see cars speeding every day along this stretch of road, and that leaves no room for error. An error on the part of a motorist or pedestrian becomes a death sentence,” he said.
He suggested photo radar cameras and other traffic-calming measures should be implemented there.
Laurent Deslauriers, who co-organized the event, said constant education is a must.
“We have to change how people think about pedestrians and cyclists,” he said.
The Montreal police's traffic division said Cortacans's death was the first at that crosswalk in six years.
