Bike path in residential Montreal borough continues to spark controversy

A new, bike-friendly version of Terrebonne Street in the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough will soon arrive in time for summer.

But some residents fiercely oppose it. They met on Saturday to discuss the changes that the new infrastructure will bring and are preparing to protest its construction.

“It’s going to be a nightmare,” says Irwin Rapoport, the event organizer. “We know this because of what happened when they tried to impose a similar bike path in 2020.”

That bike path caused such an uproar that it was removed after only a few months.

Since then, the borough invested over $200’000 studying how to better implement a similar project.

As a result, the street will become one way only and have two protected bike lanes.

It will also reduce street parking by over 60%, with residents only being able to park on one side.

The area houses multiple schools, a church, and a seniors home. Those opposed say the project does not take their needs into consideration, and that the study that it is based on is flawed.

NDG resident Tom Glowacky says that the population of the neighbourhood is older than in other areas of the city. “Given the population, we shouldn’t socially engineer people to get on bikes,” he told Global News.

Yet, encouraging active transportation is a primary goal for the borough, as revealed last week in its first long-term plan for transportation.

In 2018, only 1 per cent of the borough’s commuters used bikes, compared to 10 per cent in the plateau.

Active transportation advocates in the area are welcoming both the new plan and the bike path. They think the borough needs to move away from solo car driving, both when moving within and beyond the neighbourhood.

Jason Savard, spokesperson for the Association of Pedestrians and Cyclists of NDG, says Terrebonne Street is already being used by cyclists, but that it is widely agreed that it is dangerous.

Savard thinks the new infrastructure will make the street safer for everyone, including cars.

“It’s a small residential area, we want to slow down traffic and create a safer space. Bike paths can do that: they narrow down the street; they slow down cars,” he said.

Opposing residents disagree, stating that the new bike path will represent a danger to cars backing up from their driveway and to children crossing the street.

“When a child gets bused to school,” said Marie Yvonne Kiely, a long-time Terrebonne Street resident, “they are going to have to cross into a bike path, and that is a bit of a danger.”

Global News asked the borough mayor’s office for a statement but did not hear back by deadline.

Opposing residents are organizing a rally on May 25 at William Hurst Park to further voice their concerns.