Montreal

Bike path on St-Laurent Boulevard causes traffic chaos

The new bike path under the train tracks on St-Laurent Boulevard has cyclists heading off helter-skelter in all directions, at some points forcing them to turn into oncoming traffic or awkwardly merge.

City executive in charge of transportation says new traffic light will help resolve traffic issues

RAW: Bike path chaos on St-Laurent

10 years ago
Duration 0:37
Watch as cyclists bike over sidewalks, into traffic, and nearly collide with one another.

The new bike path under the train tracks on St-Laurent Boulevard has cyclists heading off helter-skelter in all directions, at some points forcing them to turn into oncoming traffic or awkwardly merge. 

Aref Salem, the executive committee member responsible for transportation, acknowledged there's still work to be done.

He told CBC's Daybreak the project won't be finished until the end of June.

Among the work that still needs to be done is the installation of traffic light at one of the worst corners, where cyclists turning south onto St-Laurent Boulevard from Bellechasse Street have to turn into oncoming traffic.

Salem said the number of cyclists using path has grown past the target of 2,000 users. He said they'll have to take the higher flow of traffic into account as they complete the project. 

Zvi Leve, a spokesperson for Coalition Vélo de Montréal, said that while it's great to finally have a safer, dedicated path, there's room for improvement.

"To a large degree, it's a victim of its own success," Leve said.