New bike-only lane on St-Denis Street coming within weeks

The city of Montreal is working on a pilot project that would see one lane of St-Denis Street dedicated to bikes.

The street's right-hand lane, running southbound, would be reserved only for cyclists during the morning rush hour — from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre said it's not only drivers who use St-Denis as a major thoroughfare to get downtown.

"A lot of people are not using cars, or public transit — they're using their bicycles to go to work."

Aref Salem, the city's executive committee member for transport, said the project should not add congestion to the already busy street in the morning.

He said cars aren't using the lane during the rush hour anyway.

"Instead of keeping this third lane, not used,  we're going to give it to the cyclists. We know there's a boom of cyclists in Montreal."

Traffic lights will also be synchronized to ensure a smoother flow for cyclists on the Boyer bike path in the Plateau.

The president of Vélo Québec, Suzanne Lareau, said she likes the mayor's enthusiasm, but thinks one major spot in the city continues to be neglected on the bike network.

"In downtown Montreal, there's a lack of bicycle paths, bicycle ways, and there's more congestion," Lareau said, adding that roughly 500,000 people come into the downtown every day, and more should be done to accommodate the growing number of cyclists.

"The cycling population of Montreal is growing faster than what the city is able to offer them."

Over the next year, the city will spend $12 million on its bike path network. Its goal is to continue to add 50 kilometres of new bike paths and lanes every year.

"That's how a society evolves. This is why we are the capital of cycling. We will do everything in our capacity...It's a matter of quality of life," Coderre said.