Montreal to invest $30M to upgrade and expand cycling network

Montreal’s cycling community will be getting more room to ride with the announcement of an extension to the cycling network.

The city announced Tuesday it will be developing 53 new cycling projects this summer upgrading bike paths throughout the city.

The additional 60 kilometres of cycling highway will connect 14 boroughs including Verdun, Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and Montreal North.

“This is something we’re pretty proud of because we want to offer the possibility, the option to choose the bicycle to get around the city,” said city councillor Marianne Giguère.

She said providing safe infrastructure is key to getting more people to choose active transit.

“We need to provide the (option) and people will use it.”

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The goal, according to Giguère, is to connect the four corners of the city making cycling even easier and safer all year round, including the winter months.

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The $30-million infrastructure investment will see crews upgrade the safety of existing cycling paths. It will also see the REV network extend out into the city’s East end.

Among the flagship projects included in the 2023 cycling program are:

• The sustainability of the bike path on rue de Verdun between boulevard LaSalle and rue Henri
• Development of the first section of the REV Henri-Bourassa
• The introduction of a new one-way path on Avenue Christophe-Colomb
• Connecting the bicycle network on rue Prieur Est, which will link the boroughs of Montréal-Nord and Ahuntsic-Cartierville, via a two-way bicycle path
• The construction of a new path on avenue Bourbonnière, which will connect the boroughs of Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie and Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve
• The development of the two-way path on Bourret Avenue, the first safe crossing on Décarie.

The development project is a part of the city’s grand cycling project, Vision vélo announced last November.

The city intends to build up 200 kilometres of new bike paths by 2027.

The city hopes the new investment in green transportation will help reach the goal of becoming a carbon-neutral city by 2050, Giguère said.