On my recent trip to Montreal, I found the city’s cycling projects very interesting. Of course, Montreal cyclists will tell you they have many problems — paths that go nowhere, and also some odd paths that shift back and forth between parallel streets (and are therefore ignored).
But what impressed me was the degree of intervention in the roadway exhibited by Montreal bike lanes. None of the apologetic “squeeze one in where convenient” approach of Toronto bike lanes. Montreal’s bike lanes are interventionist, completely reshaping the roadway. Above is the major pavement markings given to bike lanes — a left turn for a dedicated counterflow bike lane, and major markings for the shared lane going the other way. These markings say “bikes BELONG here.”
Below is an example of a road that has been completely re-engineered for bikes — a whole car lane has been taken out, and part of the road has been set aside for bike lanes going both ways, marked not just by paint but also by poles in the road.
In terms of places to lock bikes, Montreal was until recently far behind Toronto’s pervasive ring-and-post program. All they had were occasional small lockups (with ads on them), at most one a block (on the left in the image below). But this situation is changing rapidly, as Montreal takes out parking spaces on streets and replaces them with multi-bike lockup units (below right and in a previous post). The space is clearly demarcated for bikes.
The above photo is taken on Ste. Catherine, Montreal’s busiest shopping street — the equivalent of taking out a parking space at Bloor and Bay.
While much of Toronto is well-served by ring-and-posts, this idea would be very useful in a few heavily-biked areas where it’s not convenient to put lots of ring-and-posts. I’m thinking for example of Kensington Market, which has a remarkable lack of bike parking in its most heavily used areas (probably because the sidewalks are narrow?) but gets a lot of bike traffic. Taking away one or two parking spaces near Baldwin and Kensington and replacing them with something like this might make a lot of sense.
8 comments
Montreal’s far from perfect but it is a very bikeable city. And while the Lachibe Canal path is dangerous clogged on weekends, you can circumnavigate much of the island on really nice paths, many of which offer great views of the water.
Sorry, that’s the LachiNe Canal…
I like the idea of “sharrows” used in the first photo. However, they seemed to place them way too close to the parked cars, setting up the cyclist for a door-prize. They should put them outside the door-zone so that cyclists aren’t expected to ride dangerously close to the parked cars, and to make motorists aware that the cyclists can use the required space.
You’re right, but at least in this case the lane direction is towards the oncoming car rather than from behind.
That’s not always the case, though…
If a few cyclists get our act together we could pay for a parking spot in Kensington Market for a day and put in a bike rack. Might be a good intervention for the media.
I like the two-way bike lane. Tons of room for us bikers, and no more cars in our lane. Good thinking Montreal.
Two lanes is a great idea for TO- many folks(cyclists, strollers,joggers) go both directions on the one ways here. We’d also need to ensure the lanes could also be multi use too..
Also about Kensinton- if that one individual who uses the lockup rings to sell their bikes on them would go elsewhere, that’d be great. Or mebbe the car with the plants in it could get moved somewhere too, that spot could be used for bike parking..
I love the idea of actual posts seperating the bike lane. I have been hit by a car because they decided to without signaling, turn into a bike lane. I’ve also seen Ryan Carriere killed by a truck because of the lack of foresight on building the Queen/Gladstone intersection with a horrible corner blindspot. Bike initiatives make me cry because there’s so much hope for us and for ridding cars in the city streets.