Residents on Brigadoon Avenue in Pointe-Claire are pushing the city to reconsider a proposed bike path that would cut off a chunk of their yards.
“I cannot imagine the day that a bulldozer would come in here and tear this all apart,” Brigadoon Avenue resident Charles Brunet said.
Part of the land is owned by the city, but residents insist adding a bike path is not the best use of taxpayers’ land or money.
It could cost up to $700,000.
The new 800-metre bike path would cut through Brigadoon Avenue all the way to Stillview Avenue.
“You’re gonna from Alston to Stillview, what we say it’s to nowhere: there’s no purpose to this path,” Michael Miller, another resident said.
Homeowners argue there is a better option that wouldn’t involve shortening their yards or cutting down any trees.
They’d like to see the bike path built along Hymus Boulevard.
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Resident Charles Brunet told Global News he has invested more than $20,000 in his garden, including the city-owned patch.
It’s been certified as a natural habitat for wildlife.
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Not only would he hate to lose the space, he says, he and his neighbours argue a bike path wouldn’t make sense for the neighbourhood.
“It creates potentially an area that’s going to be very difficult to supervise and police by the city,” added Brunet.
At a recent council meeting, Mayor Morris Trudeau argued Hymus Boulevard was too busy and dangerous for a bike path.
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So far, the plan is to build a fence in the fall, and the bike path some time after.
Neighbourhood residents said they are hopeful the city will change its mind before then.