Montreal's NDG council votes to advance winter removal of one direction of Terrebonne bike lane

Montreal's Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (NDG) borough council has voted to advance the process of removing one direction of the Terrebonne Street bike lane during the winter. Local residents say the vote went ahead without public consultation; the city plans to turn the bike path into a shared lane for the winter.

Residents protested at the November 2 meeting

Families across NDG organised to attend the borough council meeting on November 2 to protest the removal of one direction of the Terrebonne bike lane for the winter, according to the report. Borough mayor Stephanie Valenzuela said she was following empirical evidence showing that the bike lanes are not much used in winter. The council voted to submit the motion to city hall for a vote, after which it would return to local officials.

Mayor: an end to polarisation

Le Devoir reported that Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada wants to end polarisation over bike lanes. Figures cited in the report say only 2.3 per cent of road space in Montreal is devoted to Bixi stations and bike lanes, although bikes account for 5 per cent of all trips in the city. The future of the Terrebonne bike lane has been disputed for some time; this site reported on October 31 that local residents had launched a petition to keep it.

Sources: On The Trail; Le Devoir.