Cycle paths | Bring REV “elsewhere and further”

What could the future of the Réseau express vélo (REV), already saturated in several sectors, look like? Experts and the cycling community are calling for an acceleration of the development of this vast cycling network, at a time when the Saint-Denis axis already exceeds 1 million passages annually.

Henri Ouellette-Vezina
The Press

“The REV, it is clear that it must be taken elsewhere and further on the island, because there, we already have congestion problems on certain sections”, immediately launches the expert in planning transport at the University of Montreal Pierre Barrieau.

In his eyes, the next axes of the vast cycling network should “be less on major arteries, but more on secondary or predominantly residential axes”. “We have to go further in the territory, by going as far as Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles for example, or by improving connections in Griffintown to go as far as Lachine. »

“That does not prevent the need to transform certain major arteries into REVs, such as Saint-Urbain, which is not always safe and which is obvious to supplant Saint-Denis,” adds Mr. Barrieau. He says that an east-west REV on René-Lévesque would also be “interesting”, especially since it would contribute to future development in the Quartier des Lumières sector, on the former site of the Radio- Canada.

Two years after its creation, the REV Saint-Denis welcomes more than 1 million users per year. “It shows that there is a clear enthusiasm and that more is needed,” says the specialist.

Towards 15% by 2027?

Officially, the City of Montreal aims to achieve “15% of utilitarian trips by bicycle by 2027 in order to ensure the ecological transition and to offer its population a safe, fair and sustainable road system”, recalls a public relations officer from the municipal administration, Hugo Bourgoin.

In the metropolis, each cycle lane project is determined “according to the opportunities for integration with other city projects, such as work on the water networks, for example,” adds Mr. Bourgoin. “They are also prioritized according to criteria of links with the major generators of travel, integration with other transport networks, potential for improving safety, potential for modal shift and social equity”, insists- he.

At Vélophantom, an organization advocating for more urban development to protect the lives of cyclists, spokesperson Séverine Lepage calls for much more to be done to reach our targets. “Currently, according to the latest reports, we are around 3% of modal share for bicycles. I don’t see how we’re going to reach 15% in five years at the current rate. If we want to get there, we really have to allocate more budget, more money to the tracks,” she said.

“We have room in Montreal. It is not a fad to imagine a REV on Papineau, on Saint-Laurent or on Sherbrooke. There are at least 1 million cyclists in Montreal. They are there, they use the network. And they would like to use it even more with secure infrastructures, ”says M^me Lepage, whose group is also campaigning for parking pricing to discourage the use of solo cars.

“The City is not going very fast”

Although he salutes the many investments in cycling in recent years, the CEO of Vélo Québec, Jean-François Rheault, nevertheless asserts that “the City is not going very fast”, or at least not fast enough, in the development of the REV.

“North of Bellechasse, for example, there is still nothing that makes the east-west link, nor anything that communicates with Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce. In Montreal North, too, there have been no new leads for quite a while. This structuring network must be accelerated. It gives access to cycling to those who do not feel safe doing so. It’s really important,” continues Mr. Rheault.

In the meantime, the REV Saint-Denis will continue to grow, he anticipates, especially since the million passages have been reached in the midst of a pandemic, with many teleworkers. “I think we can easily expect to reach 1.3 million this year. It can increase very quickly, ”argues the president.

In the office of Mayor Valérie Plante, we reiterate that “accelerating the deployment of the cycling offer in Montreal is a high priority”. “We have the firm desire to bring the cycling network to a higher level and this requires safe cycle paths to encourage even more Montrealers to make this mode of travel a priority. Other announcements will follow before the end of this year concerning new axes which are currently under study. We are also working on longer-term planning,” says press officer Marikym Gaudreault.