Cyclist killed at busy intersection in Montreal's Plateau neighbourhood honoured with ghost bike

Hundreds of people gathered at the corner of Parc and Mont-Royal avenues in Montreal's Plateau neighbourhood Sunday to commemorate the life of a cyclist killed in a hit-and-run last week. 

A white ghost bike, which is often placed at the scene of fatal collisions involving cyclists, was unveiled at the intersection where Andrea Rovere, 31, was struck and killed by a truck while riding his bike last Monday.

Several friends paid emotional tributes to the postdoctoral student and musician in Italian, French, English and Spanish.

Described as empathetic, thoughtful and generous, Rovere is remembered as a gifted scientist who cultivated a sense of togetherness within his friend groups and beyond. 

"So many of us felt like we were his best friend with the amount of attention, kindness and presence he was able to give," said Rovere's friend, Piotr Roztocki.

Rovere was well versed in various instruments and is remembered for organizing jam sessions for anyone willing to join in. Friends said he would always be on the hunt for new, local music and share his findings. The workers' rights activist and volunteer was also always willing to lend a helping hand, friends recalled. 

"Each one of us who knew him knows that we are all that much the better for it," said another friend, Luca Zanotto.

Rovere had been in the middle of a postdoctoral degree at Quebec's Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) when he was killed.

He was cycling south on Parc when he was hit by a truck as the driver turned right onto Mont-Royal. The driver then fled the scene. A day later, a 25-year-old man was charged with failing to stop after a collision.

'He has to be the last one' 

Rovere came to Montreal from Italy in 2015 to study. An online fundraising page has raised more than $47,000 in donations as of Sunday afternoon to send his body home to Italy for burial.

His death has reignited calls for the City of Montreal to better protect cyclists travelling in the area heavily used by both cyclists and pedestrians.

Severine Le Page, a spokesperson for Vélo Fantôme, said the Parc and Mont-Royal intersection is one of the most dangerous in the city. 

"It's been decades that there's been calls for this intersection to be secured because it's much too wide," she said. She pointed to speeding cars being one of the biggest problems at that particular intersection, because most people don't abide by the speed limit. 

This is the 15th ghost bike the organization has installed in the city since the group first formed in 2013. 

That's the year Suzanne Châtelain, 55, was killed on Parc Avenue and Saint-Viateur Street. Le Page said it's telling that yet another death has occurred on Parc. 

"It's horrible, we shouldn't even have to install another [ghost bike], but yet on the same street? How can this happen still?"

Last week, borough and city officials said several steps will be taken in response to the collision, including the extension of the bike path on Côte-Sainte-Catherine Road to Parc Avenue and Rachel Street.

David Beitel lives up the road from where the fatal collision happened. He said the incident is a symptom of a bigger problem related to a cycling infrastructure shortage.

"I think it's important to keep in mind that this is not the only intersection of its ilk in the city and so a lot of work needs to be done to improve," he said. 

Both Beitel and Le Page are calling on the municipal government to seriously implement new changes to busy intersections so as to avoid putting up another ghost bike. 

"Things have to change, [Rovere] has to be the last one. And he should never have been one," said Le Page.