After 40 years with just 1 bike path, cyclists in Montréal-Nord rally for more

Dozens of cyclists in Montréal-Nord took to their bikes Saturday morning to demand the borough keep its promise to create more bike paths. 

For more than 40 years, Gouin Boulevard has been the only protected bike lane in the borough. 

But Meagan Roy says it's a scenic route and more suited for a Sunday cycle than everyday use. 

"You take your time and you sightsee as opposed to actually going to work or going to your appointment," said the Ahuntsic-Cartierville resident who came out to Parc Aimé-Léonard to support the cause. 

"I do believe that every neighbourhood deserves to have those type of bike paths … where you can go where you actually need to go and not have to make a huge detour."

Annie Delage, who lives in Montréal-Nord with her 10-year-old daughter, says kids deserve to be able to ride to school safely, especially with the number of elementary and high schools in the borough. 

As it stands, Delage says her daughter is unable to do so.

"It's not safe, we need to ride with her and we often go on the sidewalk or the road; we're never sure where we're supposed to go."

After a similar protest last year, the borough presented a cycling plan, promising four new paths by this summer. But the borough's deputy mayor says only three lanes will be created this summer. 

The new paths are planned for Prieur Street, Des Récollets Avenue, and Amos Street.

"We want these [bike paths] earlier … but we should make something that we cannot change after in the future," said Montréal-Nord deputy mayor Abdelhaq Sari, who showed up to the protest. 

He says while he's unable to provide a date for when the fourth path, slated for Salk Avenue, will be created, he says the borough is not lagging behind. 

Sari says it takes a long time to change the culture of a borough where the only accessible mode of transportation has long been the car.

Projects to improve bike infrastructure in Montréal-Nord, including one in 2016, have been met with pushback from some merchants in the past. Sari says people need alternatives to driving and says public transit lags behind in the borough. 

"There is no subway here … [residents] don't have no more options." 

Jean-François Gagné, spokesperson for the Association pour la mobilité sécuritaire de Montréal-Nord, organized Saturday's protest to ensure that the borough follows through on its promise this summer.

"We have a lot of youth in Montréal-Nord, so we want the kids to go to school by bike. We need to have this option," he said. 

Gagné says he also wants to see bike paths on Lacordaire, Maurice-Duplessis and Henri Bourassa boulevards, which he says were promised by the municipal government before 2027. 

"So the plan is good, it's good streets, it's good for the kids, so we're very happy about this plan — if they do it," he said. 

Ariane Desjardins, a Laval resident and co-ordinator with the Association mobilité active Laval, also supports the plan but wants to see real action. 

"I think people need to keep fighting until there really are results on the roads," she said.