Three new lanes reserved for buses will soon open in Montreal, on rue Jarry Est, boulevard Ray-Lawson and chemin Queen-Mary. The reserved lane located on rue de la Commune, between McGill and Mill, will however have to be removed due to “modifications” to the routes of the local lines.
Posted at 2:24 p.m.
This was announced by the City of Montreal on Friday, under a regulation enacted by the executive committee earlier this week, behind closed doors.
In total, the three new lanes will add an additional 16.25 km, which will surpass the 300 km mark of reserved lanes in Montreal. The authorities estimate that approximately 25,000 journeys per day will be able to be made on these new routes.
Montreal also specifies that the reserved lane located on Henri-Bourassa Boulevard West, in Saint-Laurent, will be “extended”. It is on this road axis that the party of Mayor Valérie Plante promised during the election campaign to implement a “Metrobus” in a future mandate, in order to reduce congestion on this very busy axis in the north of the island. Technical studies have been launched, but the first estimates point to a cost of 60 million.
On rue Sherbrooke Est, in Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles, the reserved lane already in place will also be “optimized”, with the addition of a passing lane at the intersection of boulevard de la Rousseliere.
Finally, in the city center, the reserved lane installed on rue de la Commune, between rue McGill and rue Mill, will be “withdrawn following changes to the routes of the bus lines in this sector”, we read in City’s opinion. The latter also authorizes the circulation of cyclists on 13 sections of reserved lanes which were until now exclusively reserved for buses and taxis.
“Preferential measures for buses, including reserved lanes, have proven their worth. They make it possible to improve the performance of the service and its attractiveness, ”said Friday the chairman of the board of directors of the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), Éric Alan Caldwell.