Montreal cycling advocates are pushing back against the city’s latest move to review parts of its bike-lane network. Some are warning that the focus risks obscuring what they say is the real danger on the streets: gaps that leave cyclists stranded between neighbourhoods.
Vélorution Montréal responded Tuesday to the City of Montreal’s announcement that it will analyze and reassess certain existing bike paths. While the group says it supports efforts to ensure infrastructure is safe and functional, it argues the political spotlight is trained on the wrong problem.
Montreal’s cycling infrastructure
The city of Montreal has, in recent years, become a leading figure in cycling infrastructure. However, a new administration change is going in a very different direction. “I’m really crossing my fingers we keep moving forward — not backward. That would be terrible,” the outgoing mayor, Valérie Plante said, before the election as reported by The Gazette.
Ensemble Montréal’s Soraya Martinez Ferrada won the election back in November, and local riders were concerned from the first day. “I want to assure all Montrealers that we are there to ensure that bike lanes are safe,” the new mayor said, adding that the budget reflects exactly what she promised during the campaign. But there has been plenty of concern in recent months.
The connectivity of the lanes
According to the advocacy group, the most significant safety issue for cyclists is not the design of individual bike lanes. Rather, it’s the absence of a continuous, clearly structured network that allows people to ride their bikes safely across the city.
By concentrating attention on existing or recently built paths, the city risks suggesting that bike lanes themselves are the source of danger, Mathieu Murphy-Perron of Vélorution Montréal, said.
“We can’t be against the idea of improving what exists,” Murphy-Perron said. “But the real risk is giving the impression that the problem comes from the paths, when it comes mainly from the fact that they do not form a coherent and continuous network.”
The group also questioned how the city’s approach aligns with its Vision Zero commitment to eliminate serious injuries and deaths on Montreal roads. Vélorution Montréal says meeting that goal requires broader structural decisions, not just adjustments to select pieces of infrastructure.
“If the city truly wants to embrace a Vision Zero approach, it needs to ask itself whether focusing solely on certain already developed routes is the most effective approach,” Murphy-Perron said. “Or whether the urgent need is to accelerate the implementation of a complete, continuous, and protected cycling network.”
Vélorution Montréal also said that city planners already operate under professional standards that require some post-implementation evaluations. That also means ongoing monitoring of infrastructure.
The group says presenting these analyses as a new initiative raises questions about political priorities rather than professional competence.
Across the country, bike lanes keep making the news. Sometimes for good reasons, sometimes for bad. But thankfully there are lots of folks out there fighting for cyclists to have safe places to ride.