Plea to change roadside memorial law

An unusual sight in the Pueblo City Council Chambers…tears.

Families who had lost loved ones in car crashes packed into one section as Desirae Segura pled their case to get a new law changed.

“They underestimate how important these places are to us,” Segura said. “It was like losing our loved one again.”

Segura and other families recently had their roadside memorials removed by the city.

The same council unanimously passed an ordinance in January requiring that roadside memorials be removed after 45 days.

Segura believes a compromise can be reached because of how important these memorials become to families.

“There’s a lot of people saying why don’t you grieve in your own house, why don’t you grieve in your own yard? I’m not telling you where you need to go and grieve, I’m not telling you where you need to celebrate the life of your loved one,” Segura said.

One small change Segura suggested to council would be to amend the ordinance to require maintenance of the memorials by families rather than removal.

Since this issue wasn’t on the agenda, there was no change by the Council. Segura is working to get this issue onto an agenda soon.