Montreal unveils plan for 200 km of protected bike paths by 2027
03 Nov 2022
It will be easier and safer to cycle through the city in five years, the administration of Mayor Valérie Plante pledged Tuesday as it unveiled a plan to add roughly 200 kilometres of protected bike paths by 2027.
Winter cycling made easier with addition of REV bike path on St-Denis St.Sophie Mauzerolle, the executive committee member in charge of mobility, said with the first phase of the Réseau express vélo (REV) now completed or underway in the city centre — on arteries like St-Antoine, St-Denis and Peel Sts. — the next step is to focus on other areas, many of which are not well served by the current cycling network.
Among those areas is Montreal North, where the announcement was made.
Marianne Giguère, the associate councillor on the executive committee for cycling measures, said adding 40 kilometres of bike paths per year may seem like a slow pace, but it is preferable to merely painting bike lanes on roads — which does little to improve safety.
“It’s not safe, it’s not comfortable, and not as safe as a separate bike lane,” Giguère said. “We want to have separated bike paths, away from traffic, so there will be slightly fewer kilometres than promised in the past, but they will be a huge gain.”
In the next four years, the city aims to add REV paths to Henri-Bourassa Blvd. in the centre-north part of the island, as well as Lacordaire Blvd. in the east, running nearly from the north end to the southern extremity of the island.
Another protected path is proposed for Maurice-Duplessis Blvd.
Paths on Côte-Ste-Catherine Rd. and Viger/St-Antoine Sts. will be extended, as will those on De Maisonneuve Blvd. and Bellechasse St.
Other new REV paths will be built on Jean-Talon St and on Côte-de-Liesse Rd. in St-Laurent.
More protected paths are proposed for a host of streets, including Terrebonne St., in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, a project that was attempted in the summer of 2020 and abandoned weeks later after residents complained about a lack of consultation before the city removed parking spots all along that street.
Mauzerolle said the time frame of the work has yet to be worked out, as the city wants to consult with stakeholders first.
As well, some of the planned network relies on factors the city doesn’t control. For instance, two paths making up roughly 20 kilometres, heading to Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue and Deux-Montagnes, are part of a Véloroute proposed by Montreal as well as municipalities in the West Island and north of Montreal. The proposal calls for a bike path network to run alongside the tracks of the Réseau express métropolitain light rail project. However, that portion of the REM is due to enter into service in 2024, while the bike path project is still being studied.
Frédéric Bataille, a spokesperson for the Coalition mobilité active Montréal, isn’t hopeful about that project.
“There have been proposals in the past to have bike paths alongside tracks, and historically, they have not worked out,” Bataille said. “They tried it with the St-Hilaire line, and it never happened, so what’s changed since then? I don’t know. In the past, negotiations with rail companies haven’t borne fruit.”
Bataille said he’s generally satisfied with the city’s announcement, but skeptical over the lack of specific dates set for the work.
“It would have been nice to see what will be done in 2023,” he said. “That’s just in two months, so normally, they should know that information.”
Speaking for the opposition at city hall, Alba Zuniga Ramos said the plan seems good, but she hopes the Plante administration has learned its lessons from the past and will properly consult those affected before building the new bike paths.
Planned bicycle path projects
Réseau express vélo
- Côte-de-Liesse Rd.
- Henri-Bourasa Blvd.
- Jean-Talon St.
- Côte-Ste-Catherine Rd. extension (Parc/Mont-Royal intersection)
- Édouard-Montpetit Blvd.
- Viger Ave./St-Antoine St./St-Jacques St.
- De Maisonneuve Blvd. extension
- Bellechasse St. extension (to St-Laurent Blvd.)
- Lacordaire Blvd.
Inter-borough projects
- Highway 440 right-of-way in the West Island
- Pierrefonds Blvd. (conversion of existing bicycle lane)
- St-Pierre Ave./Notre-Dame St. intersection in Lachine
- Newman Blvd./Jolicoeur St./4th Ave./5th Ave.
- Hadley St.
- Terrebonne St.
- de l’Église St.
- Verdun St.
- Argenson St./Atwater Ave.
- Bourret Ave. (across Décarie Expressway)
- Golf Rd. extension
- Darlington Ave.
- Wilderton Ave.
- Bleury St.
- Querbes Ave.
- St-Urbain St.
- Clark St.
- de la Commune St. (between Berri St. and St-Laurent Blvd.)
- Émile-Journault St.
- Christophe-Colomb Ave.
- Hochelaga St.
- Bourbonnière Ave.
- Prieur/Charleroi
- 24th Ave. (between Grandes-Prairies and Villeray)
- Viau St.
- Maurice-Duplessis Blvd.
- St-Jean-Baptiste Blvd.
- Hydro-Québec right-of-way across Highway 40
Véloroutes (along REM)
- Deux-Montagnes branch
- Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue branch
