Projet Montréal promises to build ‘express’ bike lanes
Projet Montréal is vowing to build a 140-kilometre Réseau Express Vélo — a network of “express” protected bike routes along seven busy axes.
But the plan, announced Friday by leader Valérie Plante, is short on important details such as where the new paths would go. Standing next to the protected bike path on Rachel St. in the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough, Plante said she wants to ensure that “the 116,000 people who commute every day using their bikes can do it in a safer way.
“With express bike paths, (we) will make sure there are fewer collisions, and less stress and conflict between different users of the street.”
Projet handed out a stylized map of what the network might look like. It features three north-south routes and four east-west routes. One runs from Notre-Dame St. E. to Gouin Blvd., another from the borough of Anjou to Décarie Blvd., but it’s unclear which streets the routes would take.
That’s because locations would be decided after public consultations that would occur in the first year of a Projet Montréal administration. “Year One will be about consulting,” Plante said. “We want to make sure it’s coherent and that we find the best streets to use.”
She said the network would be built over four years at a rate of 35 kilometres per year.
Plante did not specify a cost for the project but said it would be part of the $25 million per year her party would spend on cycling infrastructure over 10 years. The money will also be used to improve local bike paths.
Projet Montréal’s plan to make cycling safer in Montreal was announced two days after Clément Ouimet, 18, died after being struck by an SUV on Camillien-Houde Rd. He was the fourth cyclist to die on Montreal streets in three months.
Plante also pledged to create bike boxes at 20 intersections every year, providing reserved areas in front of cars at stop lights. She said she would also redesign dangerous underpasses to make them safer to cyclists.
In September, Denis Coderre, who is running to be mayor of Montreal for a second term, announced a plan to spend $30 million annually over the next five years — the $15 million already set aside, plus an additional $15 million.