Higher risk for cyclists in central Boroughs
Despite being a bike-friendly neighbourhood, Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie has proven to be the most deadly for cyclists in Montreal.
More than 20 per cent of all cycling deaths in Montreal during the last 12 years have occurred in the borough, data from provincial and municipal public bodies show.
Ten cyclists have died after accidents with vehicles in the borough between 2006 and 2017, according to numbers from the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec and the Montreal police. Forty-five cyclists have died on the island of Montreal during that period. Those numbers do not include the two cyclists who have died in Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie this year.
While the number might not be that high — Montreal sees an average of 3.75 cyclist deaths per year — public health officials say it could be lower.
“We know how to prevent these injuries,” said Patrick Morency, a physician with Montreal’s public health department with a research focus on cyclist and pedestrian safety. “It’s an avoidable problem.”
The factors that make certain areas safer for cyclists than others boil down to how much traffic there is on any given road, the speed limit and whether cyclist-specific infrastructure exists, Morency said. The presence of trucks can also increase the likelihood of injury.
“Cycling and walking are safe until you’re exposed to motor vehicles.”
Because Rosemont is a central neighbourhood, there tends to be a lot of traffic as cars and trucks move from one end of the island to the other, he said.
Such is also the case in Plateau-Mont-Royal and Ville-Marie, which see a significant portion of Montreal’s cycling-related fatalities, at 13 and 11 per cent respectively. The numbers are probably elevated because those areas are also where a large portion of Montreal’s cycling population can be found, said Suzanne Lareau, director of Vélo Québec.
“There are certain areas where not only is the risk (of injury) elevated, but there are also a lot of pedestrians and cyclists,” Morency said. “If we put the two together, those are the areas where we’ll see more injuries.”
Another factor related to the safety of a neighbourhood that cannot be ignored is its socio-economic level, Morency said. According to him, 30 per cent of intersections in Montreal’s poorer areas cross major arteries, while only 10 per cent of intersections do so in richer neighbourhoods. As a result, he says, poorer populations are exposed to increased traffic moving at higher speeds.
“We could say richer areas have inherited better design,” he said.
So as a public-health professional, he says their desire to ensure a healthy population is directly affected by inequalities, including those in urban planning.
“From an urban-planning perspective, we can’t tell cyclists ... to take minor roads,” Morency said. “We have to say collectively that we need to secure major roads.”
Both Lareau and Morency say that can be a gradual process. Lareau said if the city were to reduce available street parking by one to two per cent each year, the difference would not be immediately perceptible. But “after 25 years, you realize, ‘Wow, we just transformed a city.’ ”
That’s why, Lareau said, it’s important to keep bike safety in mind while city streets are being redesigned. If streets are remade exactly as they were before, there won’t be any progress, she said, citing the 2015-16 construction on St-Denis St. as an example.
And the city of Montreal has committed to making those changes. In May, it announced an investment of $15 million into 48 cycling projects during the next year and a half. Included will be extending Montreal’s bike-path network by 33 kilometres, one-third of which will be protected by a physical barrier. Their plan also includes eliminating 30 parking spaces on Roy St. E and 100 on des Pins Ave. for the creation of a bike path stretching from Parc Ave. to Parc Lafontaine.
Since then, the city has started making progress on their promises. The de Maisonneuve Blvd. bike path has already been extended in the east to du Havre St., and work on a protected bike path on Guy St. from de Maisonneuve to William St. will begin this fall, said Marianne Giguère, Montreal’s associate executive committee member responsible for active transport.
But like Lareau and Morency, Giguère said that creating safe infrastructure takes time.
“It’s not a change that can be done in six months or one year,” she said. “It’s a change of how we work. It’s a change of how we think of active transportation.”