Outremont scales back bike lane for winter

FILE: A bike lane can be seen in Edmonton after snowfall on Nov. 22, 2024. (Jeremy Thompson/CTV News Edmonton)

Outremont is removing a bike lane, a decision made at the first council meeting of the borough’s new mayor, Caroline Braun, who was elected with Ensemble Montréal.

The bike lane runs along the south side of Lajoie Avenue between Stuart Avenue and Outremont Avenue.

According to documents from the meeting, an amendment to the traffic and parking by-law will convert the dedicated lane into a shared lane, bringing back parking spaces on the north side that had previously been removed.

The by-law is expected to be adopted in December.

The documents also note the mayor’s office requested the change “to promote coexistence between cyclists and motorists, while allowing parking regulations to be changed to permit parking on the north side of Lajoie Avenue.”

The parking rules will apply between Dec. 1 and March 31, with the bike lane scheduled to return around March 31.

On social media, Braun said the bike lane is usually removed during winter but noted a pilot project was carried out to try to keep it in place during the colder months.

“However, because of the high number of citizen complaints and significant challenges with snow-clearing operations, the borough decided to return to the shared winter lane,” Braun said, adding that it was not an ideal situation.

“The Sustainable Mobility Plan also plans to resolve this issue in the long term by making Lajoie Street one-way, which would make travel safer and allow the cycle lane to remain in place year-round.”

In an interview with CJAD 800’s Aaron Rand, Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada said she respects Braun and trusts her judgement.

“Outremont has been very exemplary in terms of how they work with the citizens, the merchants. The way that they implemented the bicycle path,” Martinez Ferrada said.

“Bicycle paths will be something that people will always be talking to us about. But we are going to show them that they can do this the right way.