The popularity of the first section of the Express Bike Network (REV) on Saint-Denis Street continues to grow. Fans of two-wheeled transportation are calling for the creation of another cycle route going from north to south, but this time in the west of the island of Montreal.
“There is the REV Saint-Denis and, now, the protected slopes on Christophe-Colomb which work very well. We would like to have something similar in the west for north-south travel. We have cycle lanes, but there is nothing set up in a safe way,” explains the spokesperson for the Association for Active Mobility of Saint-Laurent (AMASL), Olivier Labrèche.
With the Association for Active Mobility of Verdun–L’Île-des-Sœurs, the Association of Pedestrians and Cyclists of NDG, Ahuncycle and several other organizations, his group forms the Coalition for Active Mobility of Montreal (CMAM) .
In a letter sent in recent days to Mayor Valérie Plante, the coalition states that this “Western axis” could pass through O’Brien Boulevard as well as the Lucerne, Kindersley, De La Savane, Victoria, Plamondon-Barclay axes. , McLynn-Earnscliffe-Clanranald, before turning south via Avenue Girouard.
The cycle path would thus link the districts of Saint-Laurent, Cartierville, Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and Mont-Royal.
The group also proposes to build a level crossing in the Clanranald axis, which would “connect the Namur-Hippodrome eco-district, Royalmount and the west of Saint-Laurent to the rest of the network”.
“Act now”
According to the coalition’s plans, the City should aim for “separate and snow-cleared one-way paths” which would pass near establishments and mobility hubs such as the orange line, the Vanier and Saint-Laurent CEGEPs, the Sacré-Cœur hospital. Heart and the future stations of the Réseau express métropolitain (REM).
The light rail manager, CDPQ Infra, has already mentioned a “cycle route” along the route, but nothing has yet been done on this subject. A new section of the REV is also in preparation on Boulevard Henri-Bourassa and should allow protected east-west cycling travel in the north of the island by 2027. “We don’t want to wait another four, five or six years. We must act now,” judges Mr. Labrèche.
Cycling culture is less present in the West, precisely because people are not encouraged to go out on two wheels in such conditions.
Olivier Labrèche, spokesperson for the Association for Active Mobility of Saint-Laurent (AMASL)
At Vélo Québec, the president and general manager, Jean-François Rheault, finds the idea “very interesting”. “Not only does this route make it possible to reach places of residence, employment and public transport in a fairly dense axis, but above all, it uses physical barriers such as highways 40 and 15, i.e. sectors where it is very difficult to cross,” he says.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The president and general director of Vélo Québec, Jean-François Rheault
“More generally, it demonstrates a desire among citizens to move things forward. And it also probably demonstrates that they find that the City is not moving at the speed it should for the development of major structuring axes,” adds Mr. Rheault.
The City in analysis
In the office of Mayor Valérie Plante, it is cautiously indicated that “proposals from the population are always favorably received”. “We will take the time to analyze this route, which is not currently planned in the cycling program,” however, explains the press officer, Béatrice Saulnier-Yelle.
She specifies that Montreal intends to continue to accelerate “the security of travel for all users by continuously improving the cycling network to better connect outlying neighborhoods and decongest the road network”.
So far, there are six axes of the REV: Berri–Lajeunesse–Saint-Denis, Viger–Saint-Antoine–Saint-Jacques, Souligny, Peel, Bellechasse and Notre-Dame–parc de la Traversée. In the short term, by 2027, the City plans to develop four more, on the Côte-de-Liesse, Henri-Bourassa, Jean-Talon and Lacordaire axes.
REV Saint-Denis had even crossed the symbolic threshold of 1.5 million passes on the counter in 2023, a record. During weekdays, the busy axis recorded an average of 4,600 passages in 2023. The rest of the time, especially on weekends, the REV welcomed an average of 4,300 passages daily.
Even among the merchants of the artery, who were initially reluctant, the cycle path is gaining more and more fans. Currently, the commercial occupancy rate on Saint-Denis Street is a little over 84%, much more than before the arrival of the REV. However, the street was under construction at that time.