Montreal bike lanes under scrutiny by Martinez Ferrada administration

The Montreal mayor is ordering safety reviews of key bike lanes to guide the city’s future network.

The Martinez Ferrada administration plans to take a closer look at four existing bike paths to assess safety and traffic flow issues for all road users.

The $1 million audit will focus on current bike lanes and others in the planning and design phase.

The completed bike paths are on:

• Meilleur Street (Ahuntsic-Cartierville)
• Rachel Street (Plateau-Mont-Royal)
• Côte-Sainte-Catherine Road (Outremont)
• de la Commune Street (Ville-Marie)

Meantime, the administration will also conduct an “in-depth” review of cycling projects under study or in the design phase, including:

• Viau Boulevard (Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve)
• Berri Street (Ville-Marie)
• Saint-Urbain Street (Ville-Marie)
• Bellechasse Street (Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie)

The administration’s goal is to get a clear picture of how pedestrians, cyclists, people with reduced mobility, and motorists coexist on these roadways.

“It’s the start of a serious, thoughtful and collective effort to make sure that everybody will find their place in our city,” said Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada.

The city will be auditing the existing bike lanes through “field observations” to gather information, then take any necessary “concrete corrective measures,” it said in a news release, adding that a pilot project is already underway on a section of the Henri-Bourassa sustainable mobility corridor.

This new process could allow for “faster and more proactive interventions as soon as a safety, traffic flow, or accessibility issue is observed in the field,” the city said in a statement.

“What we want is a safe, coherent, fluid, and well-integrated cycling network in our neighborhoods. And to achieve that, we need to listen, collaborate, and work with the boroughs,” said the mayor.

The audit is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

Hot election issue

By scrutinizing the city’s cycling network, Martinez Ferrada is following through on a key election issue.

The current administration claims they are undergoing the audit because previous reports on bike lanes by the last administration did not provide the comprehensive answers they were seeking.

Montreal bike path network stretches just slightly more than 1,000 kilometres.

Opposition party Projet Montreal said it’s concerned some lanes will be dismantled.

“To send a message that, well, this type of way to move in the city has to be reconsidered. That’s weird,” said interim leader Ericka Alneus.

Bike paths were a hot-button issue during the fall mayoral election, with many Montrealers and both major parties holding strong opinions.

Martinez Ferrada said what concerns her most is how divided the conversation has become.

“I think everybody wants to make sure that the city works for all and a lot of citizens in Montreal feel like they were not listened to in the past eight years,” she said.

- With files from Swidda Rassy