Moncton councillors change their minds, again, on Mountain Road bike lanes

Bike lanes will remain in place on a stretch of Mountain Road in Moncton.

The city voted last week to change the lane structure, but the change was already going back to original form; four lanes for motorists, and no specific bike lanes.

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Bike lanes were added between Woodhaven Court and Front Mountain Road about six weeks ago, and it was determined at a Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday, they would remain there with a change of mind from council.

Councillors voted to let staff review the idea before moving on it, expecting a full report in September 2019.

“I look forward to the data a year from now,” says Coun. Charles Leger.

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“We said to staff, ‘Come back to council and say these are some of the things that aren’t working, this is what we’re going to try,’ and we’re good with that.”

Leger originally voted against changes a week ago, requesting more time. But the motion was passed.

Speed concerns are top of mind for some councillors, including Paul Pellerin.

“I was a little bit perturbed that the fact that the city of Moncton pays over $20 million for RCMP services and we can’t even get traffic division to actually go there and monitor the situation and ticket people.”

A recent decline in the speed limit from 70 km/h to 50 km/h didn’t seem to slow people down on Tuesday, with the radar still clocking some cars going above the limit.

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Some radar guns remain in place where the speed has been reduced on Mountain Road.

“Well, I don’t bike up that far because Mountain Road is too scary to bike on to begin with,” says Carol Locke, who tries to stick to side roads when cycling.

A proposed idea among councillors was to make the lanes more visible by extending them, while bike lanes alongside the sidewalks were also discussed.