Hotly contested bike path in Montreal's west end will be revived with an all-new look

A controversial bike lane in Montreal's west end will make a comeback next year after the first installation was vehemently opposed by the community, leading the borough council to pull the plug.

Terrebonne Street is going to be made unidirectional for vehicles and bidirectional for cyclists, with bike lanes on both the north and south sides of the east-west route.

For vehicles, Terrebonne will be made one-way eastbound between Cavendish Boulevard and Girouard Avenue. It will be one-way westbound between Cavendish and Belmore Avenue.

"For us, the safety of the cyclists is really important," said Côte-des-Neiges–NDG mayor Gracia Kasoki Katahwa.

"We need to provide better, more active transportation options for the people."

And as elected officials, she said, it's important that they accompany citizens through these changes. Though the plan is being implemented next summer, she said residents will have their chance to learn all about the project next month and share their thoughts.

Jason Savard, spokesperson for the Association of Pedestrians and Cyclists of NDG, said his organization has been studying the street for about eight years, ever since it conducted a survey and found that a surprising number of cyclists rely on it despite the lack of bike infrastructure.

"It's barely passable for two lanes of cars, with parking on both sides and the actual bike chevrons," said Savard. "It was dangerous for cyclists. It still is."

He said his organization is "ecstatic" about the borough's plan to redesign the street.

He said there was clearly more study put into this plan than into the previous, failed bike path that was removed after a short life marred with backlash from the community.

1st bike path project panned

The first bike path initiative was unanimously approved by the Côte-des-Neiges–NDG borough council as part of a 200-part omnibus bill in the summer of 2020. It was installed by the end of July and quickly drew complaints from the neighbourhood.

Savard said it was hastily planned, but it was great for cyclists as it provided unidirectional, protected lanes on either side of the street. The lanes were protected by flexible posts.

All the curbside parking vanished. So an online petition against the path quickly garnered more than 1,600 signatures, and the borough was inundated with angry emails and calls.

By September, former Coun. Christian Arseneault, who was among the original backers of the project, admitted the project was a failure and said it was time to get the community involved in designing a bike path that works for them, rather than pushing forward in a project without consultation.

So in September of 2022, under a largely new council, the borough paid a firm $150,000 to conduct an exhaustive study on how to put a bike path on Terrebonne. The results of that study were published Monday.

The area studied included the territory between Somerled and Monkland avenues to the north and south, as well as the stretch between St-Ignatius Avenue to the west, and Girouard Avenue to the east.

Cyclist, vehicle and pedestrian traffic was counted at 17 intersections, and more than 1,100 parking spaces were reviewed, the borough says in a news release.

Building a protected bike path

Finally, three scenarios were proposed, and the borough is going with one that will cut parking on just one side of the street.

Cycling infrastructure will be located along the sidewalk — protected by bollards (flexible posts) on one side and a parking lane on the other.

The study found the impact on parking would be minimal, though traffic should decrease by about 40 to 50 per cent on this local street that serves several schools and other institutions, the release says.

"From the beginning of my mandate, I made it clear that I want more people to use bike lanes, so it needs to be safer," the borough mayor told CBC News.

"And it's also going to be safer for the car drivers on that street because there are a lot of people using that street."

"This means a lot for the environment," said Savard, who wants to see more city space allocated to cyclists, pedestrians, and public transit rather than being dominated by moving or parked cars.

"We are going to have many more people biking in a safe space."

According to the borough news release, discussions with various institutional partners in the area will take place in the week of Nov. 20, and a meeting with local residents, open to the general public, will be held on Nov. 30.