Lakeshore Road, site of recent fatality, a dangerous stretch

A 49-year-old woman has died after hitting a tree on Lakeshore Road across from the cemetery Saturday morning.

Niagara Regional police, Niagara paramedics and Niagara-on-the-Lake firefighters went to help around 11:40 a.m., but when the woman, who was alone in the car, was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, she was deceased.

The police are not releasing her name.

A photo taken for The Local will not be published out of respect for her family, but it clearly shows the car severely damaged from the collision with the tree.

Shirley Madsen lives beside Niagara Lakeshore Cemetery, on the other side of the road from the site of the collision, and has seen many serious incidents, including fatalities, along that stretch, involving cars travelling in both directions. She took some flowers this weekend to tie to the tree, and says there is a note posted there by a loved one, using the first name of the “sweet, beautiful” woman, and asking her to “please rest easy.”

“She was loved, and she had a name,” says Madsen. “It breaks my heart to think about it.”

It also makes her angry that despite the number of collisions, including one at that same tree not long ago, the region has resurfaced the road, but done nothing to make it safer.

She had an interesting experience Tuesday, she says, driving from the Old Town to her home. “It was just the way the light was on the road, and coming around the corner, it appeared like the tree was in the middle of the road. It looked very strange, almost making me want to go back to take a picture.”

In a letter to The Local, she lists the many incidents she recalls, finding details online to confirm dates, that paint a picture of the danger along that part of the road, beginning where it meets Four Mile Creek Road and continuing into Old Town. She calls on the town and the region to consider ways to make it safer, she says, believing there have to be solutions, some of which have been used in other areas of town. Most recently there has been a stop sign to slow traffic on York Road at Concession 6, but in past years and at other locations, larger signs and flashing lights have also been installed to warn drivers of danger, she says.

Detectives assigned to the collision reconstruction unit are appealing to members of the public who may have been in the area at the time to contact the lead detective at 905-688-4111, option 3, badge 1009170 with any relevant information.

Members of the public who wish to provide information anonymously can contact Crime Stoppers of Niagara online or by calling 1-800-222-8477.