Part of Cherrier Street will be off-limits to cars to reduce bike accidents
Only buses and bikes will be allowed on a stretch of Cherrier St. starting in August
Drivers in the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough will soon be forbidden from driving westbound on a short stretch of Cherrier Street, near La Fontaine Park.
The new measure, announced on Tuesday as a way to help reduce the number of bike accidents, is expected to be come into effect by the end of August.
The 165-metre stretch of Cherrier St., between Sherbrooke St. E. and Parc La Fontaine Ave. is a hot spot for traffic accidents, according to Montreal's public health agency. Between 2004 and 2015, 94 people were injured there in collisions with cars.
From now on, only bikes and buses will be allowed to travel westbound on that part of the road.
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"Hundreds of cyclists, pedestrians, and drivers compete for the same green light in an often tense context," Marianne Giguère, a Plateau borough councillor, said in a statement.
The changes to the street were praised by two cycling advocacy groups, Vélo Québec and Coalition vélo de Montréal.