Councillor Peter McQueen took a solitary ride along the bicycle lane he dreams of adding to the Decarie viaduct. His motion about extending the de Maisonneuve bike path over the rail bridge crashed when none of the other council members seconded it at the May 3 borough council meeting.

Even with the support of a petition signed by hundreds of users in favor of extending the de Maisonneuve bike path over a new Decarie viaduct, McQueen’s idea on improving safety didn’t convince any of the other council members to second his motion.

Earlier during the meeting Loyola resident Janis Warne asked councillor Susan Clark where she stands on the status quo and why it can’t be changed. The bicycle path where it currently ends is just “an accident waiting to happen”.

“People who have signed the petition aren’t experts on bike path possibilities at the busy intersection. But we do use it very regularly, and we know it’s very dangerous the way it is,” she added.

Councillor Clarke admits to needing to learn more about how traffic and bikes fit together. “What Michael was explaining earlier is that the right way to proceed is to have the experts come up with a plan to make the bike path safe. Once we have the experts’ final recommendations, we’re going to be able to sit with them and have them explain the options to us,” she said.

“My only real major concern in addition to the traffic safety issue is that I don’t want to see a bike path running where, in the middle of the night, something can happen to someone because they weren’t in plain view,” she answered.

Hidden by a building
In her second question, Warne wanted to know who these experts are, and whether there will be public consultations with the actual users. “The real experts are also users and they know that there are lots of bike paths in the city that are far more isolated than going behind one single building. One building! For me, it’s a red herring. And will it change the status quo? It’s amazing that no one’s been killed yet,” she remarked.

Mayor Michael Applebaum promised that when proposals are made, the current Comité de bon voisinage will arrange discussions on the city services’ recommendations involving users and people living in the area.

“The proposal only responds to transit for people going east and west and doesn’t respond to the users of the McGill University Health Centre hospital or the people who want to get to Saint-Raymond.”

More specifically, he said, the major flaw of the project as proposed is with respect to circulation norms. With a bicycle path going over the viaduct and on to the other side of the street, a cyclist who then wants to come back and get into the MUHC would have to turn around and go to the east side of the street. They would be riding against traffic. To respect the law they would have to go back to the other side of the street. Applebaum thinks it’s important to allow the experts to come up with different proposals. They will then be discussed with the public and people will be able to ask questions.

[Marie Cicchini]