Tant qu’à y être, la rue Cloutier pourrait être fermée aux voitures puisque Bernard Est est déjà à sens unique en direction Est.
La fermeture permettrait de créer une belle séparation physique.
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et comme le terrain adjacent a été racheté par la ville (l’ancien truc de tapis), une revue complète de la géométrie du terrain et de la rue pourrait être faite.
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Il serait même relativement aisé de faire une piste protégée jusqu’au REV St-Denis direction sud, par son intersection avec la rue du Laos.
Terrebonne bike lane project sparks concerns among parents
As the new bike lane begins development, residents worry about safety and accessibility effects of the new plan.
Author of the article:
Published Jun 26, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 4 minute read
Benjamin Wallace, with his children on the back, was one of the early users of a bike path being created along Terrebonne St. in the N.D.G. district of Montreal on June 25. PHOTO BY JOHN MAHONEY /Montreal Gazette
A proposed update to bike paths on Terrebonne St. in the Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough continues to stir controversy months after its announcement. The work, which began this week, will see Terrebonne become a bidirectional road for cyclists and unidirectional for vehicles.
Among the concerned are parents of children attending Mackay Centre and Phillip E. Layton school, both of which aid and instruct children with special needs.
The proposed plan — and the complications that could develop from it — are “outrageous,” said Karolyn Liverman, chair of the Mackay Centre governing board and whose daughter graduated from Grade 6 this month. The new bike paths would reduce the number of convenient drop-off zones and could require parents to park farther away, navigating hazardous routes, especially during winter.
The Mackay Centre offers specialized educational and rehabilitative services in English for children with deafness or who are physically disabled. Some use wheelchairs. The school moved to its current building on Terrebonne in 2018, along with the Layton school, which services children who are visually impaired. Both schools are housed in the same building on Terrebonne.
“The parents have to park far and (the child) has to be taken, walking from the parking — wherever that will be available. And then take that child trying to cross the street in February in an ice storm, crossing a bike path, crossing a traffic path, then to another bike path, when, already, walking is a challenge for them on a regular basis?” she said. “It’s outrageous.”
A car drives next to the newly-created bike path on Terrebonne St. in the N.D.G. district of Montreal Tuesday June 25, 2024. PHOTO BY JOHN MAHONEY /Montreal Gazette
Liverman stressed that the borough’s current plan did not adequately address the needs of Mackay parents and the safety of their children. Liverman and fellow board members worked with principal Irini Margetis, who shared the board’s concern, in communicating with city officials. She said their efforts felt fruitless.
“We have written letters, attended meetings and voiced our concerns, but we feel ignored,” Liverman said.
The Terrebonne bike path has a controversial history. In 2020, an initial version of the bike path was installed but quickly removed following public outcry.
The project, costing the city $250,000, aims to provide safer and more efficient routes for cyclists. It has faced criticism for the perceived lack of adequate consultation and planning as well as significantly reducing parking space and altering traffic flow. “There’s kids that are being bused from all over the greater Montreal area, so there’s a tremendous amount of buses using the school’s parking, and so the parents that do drive their kids are stuck using the streets,” Liverman said.
Jason Savard, a spokesperson for the Association of Pedestrians and Cyclists of N.D.G., said the new plan would ensure safety for cyclists on Terrebonne. “Adding a bike path with bollards would have been better than the paint that’s there right now,” Savard explained.
According to Savard, the current setup with painted signs is inadequate, and the proposed path, protected by bollards, offers a safer alternative. Savard added that the street is heavily used by cyclists and the new infrastructure is meant to encourage more active transportation options while enhancing safety.
A cyclist rides on the newly-created bike path on Terrebonne St. A new city plan envisages bollards instead of paint to demarcate the path. PHOTO BY JOHN MAHONEY /Montreal Gazette
“The previous setup was dangerous. Cyclists had to share the road with cars, which led to numerous close calls and accidents,” Savard said, referencing a survey conducted by the association in which users reported Terrebonne was the least safe among the roads they frequented.
Extensive consultations have been conducted with local institutions and residents since October, according to Ezra De Muns, a special adviser in the office of the C.D.N.-N.D.G. borough mayor. “We have been committed to talking to people in this process and helping them absorb the changes,” they said.
Irwin Rapoport, a spokesperson for the Association de voisinage de la rue de Terrebonne, argued that nearby institutions similar to Mackay Centre, such as St. Monica elementary school, would also be heavily affected by the reduction of parking spots and the new one-way lane.
“We are not against bike lanes,” Rapoport said. “But individual residents will be impacted … you have the diversion of traffic from Terrebonne to the side streets, which are already busy, and then it’s also going to remove 300-plus to 475 parking spots.”
He believed the project lacked sufficient consultation and comprehensive traffic studies and asked for the project’s cancellation with thorough consultation with N.D.G. residents.
Rapoport also emphasized his desire for a solution that considers all community members’ needs. This sentiment was echoed by Silvano de la Llata, an associate professor at Concordia University in geography, planning and environment. “We need to think systemically and interdependently,” de la Llata said. “A holistic approach is essential for creating a truly safe and functional urban environment.”
De la Llata believed implementing bike lanes without considering their effect on other city elements could lead to conflicts and accidents. He stressed that urban planning should account for the interactions between different modes of transportation and users. With a holistic design, he believed, Terrebonne’s bike lanes would benefit greatly.
A public information meeting to unify opposition to the imposed bike path will be held July 6 at St. Monica’s Church. The event, organized by the Association de voisinage de la rue de Terrebonne, aims to educate residents on the bike path’s impact and mobilize opposition, according to Rapoport.
Work on the paths is planned in three phases and is projected to finish by July 15.
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I have listened to a few borough councils from CDN-NDG and a few municipal councils even, and the Terrebonne bike path comes over and over and over again. Those who are against it are relentless, but the borough mayor (mayor Gracia Kasoki Katahwa) does not budge on this project.
To give a little context for those not familiar, in 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, there was a first implementation of this bike corridor that was made a bit hastily (2 bike lanes, one each side of the street, and two car lanes, removing all the parking) and there was a lot of backlash, so it was removed rather quickly. So, they conducted studies and consultations to make a better project, and in 2023, they reimplemented the bike corridor with 2 bike lanes, one each side of the street, 1 car lane and one parking lane, removing roughly half of the parking. The project got just as much backlash, but this time around, having done studies for years to make sure it was viable, the (new) mayor is unwavering.
I got to say, this is one of the bike path sagas that made me realize just how much implementing bike paths takes a lot of courage/resolve sometimes. It would have been so much easier to give up or put sharrows or something minimal as to not anger those whose habits and parkings would be affected.
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Je vais partie un pool sur la date de mise en fonction de ce compteur REV mais pas sur le REV (sur Des Pins).
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Ariane Garon has the unique job of riding along all of the city’s bike lanes to get a handle on what shape the network is in.
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Le journaliste mentionne que les vidéos seront disponibles sur Google StreetView et que les données seront disponibles sur le site des données ouvertes de la Ville!
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Ahhh! Elle m’a volé ma job!!! :-))))
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Dans la présentation de MHM des pistes cyclable sur Gérin-Lajoie et De Renty, il y a une carte avec des pistes cyclables prévues sur Sherbrooke au complet, mais c’est pas dans le plan vélo 2019.
Est-ce que vous avez entendu parler de ce changement?
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Je pense que j’ai vu dans le rapport final du projet structurant de l’est que l’ARTM suggérait (p.73) de réaménager Sherbrooke et de mettre des pistes cyclables. Ce n’est sûrement pas pour demain vu la courbe dans l’asphalte.
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Ouais, sauf que le REM passe pas dans l’ouest du quartier. J’ai aussi entendu dire que c’est des voies réservées aux autobus qui permettront les cyclistes. Ça serait après la réouverture du pont-tunnel.
REV?
Dans ma tête, le projet structurant de l’est s’appelle encore le REM de l’est. hihi, dsl.
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Ah, vu le sujet je pensais que c’était une faute de frappe et que tu parlais du Réseau Express Vélo. Depuis que CDPQ n’est plus dans le projet, la ligne ne peut plus s’appeler le REM de l’Est. “REM” c’est la marque déposée du métro de de la Caisse, et légalement, ce nom ne peut pas être utilisé pour un projet à Montréal qui n’est pas de la Caisse.
Pourquoi il n’y a pas de piste cyclable sur Saint-Urbain entre Bernard et le parc Lhasa-De Sela?
Aussi, ce serait bien si l’arrêt de bus de la 55 au coin de Saint-Urbain et Ontario était déplacé devant la Maison Symphonique.
Fin de mon rant. Merci. 
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Un jour tout ça sera revu. de De Castelnau jusqu’à Saint-Antoine. Début des travaux : Été 2025.
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cette piste est très très peu utilisée car la piste sous le viaduc St-Laurent est nettement supérieure.
Cette piste sur Sain-Urbain a de nombreux défauts.
- Accès difficile depuis le nord.
- Épingle difficile à négocier
- Côté sud on arrive du mauvais côté de la rue à gauche, alors que la bande cyclable est à droite. Il faut donc changer 3x fois de voie !?
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