Part of Ontario Street to be pedestrianized
Ontario Street between Darling and Pie-IX will become pedestrianized this summer, starting July 2. This is the section that’s been the site of street fairs in previous years.
Richard Martineau is charging square at the mayor on Monday with the headline Détruis ta ville avec Valérie Plante! and a ponderous, unfunny analogy about video games. He couldn’t hate her more if she were an anglophone.
Bill Binns 14:03 on 2020-06-22 Permalink
A street isn’t “pedestrianized” unless bicycles are also banned and that ban is enforced. A highly unlikely scenario anywhere in Montreal.
Kate 16:11 on 2020-06-22 Permalink
Bill Binns, I was all along Mont-Royal on Saturday, where pedestrians are sharing the street with cyclists, and honestly, it was fine. I didn’t see anything even remotely resembling a close call between a cyclist and a pedestrian. Cyclists are taking their time and not taking any chances.
Ian 17:08 on 2020-06-22 Permalink
That said according to Rabouin Mont Royal is supposed to be pedestrian only. Has that changed or is it just being ignored?
Bill Binns 18:05 on 2020-06-22 Permalink
@Kate Well maybe they should let the cars stay if they promise to b super careful and courteous like the cyclists you observed.
In all seriousness a real outdoor pedestrian area where you don’t have to have your head on a swivel for fast moving *anything* is entirely different than a mix of pedestrians and bikes. And if those cyclists were so courteous they would have touched their precious feet to the ground and walked their bikes through the pedestrian area.
Chris 02:24 on 2020-06-23 Permalink
>maybe they should let the cars stay if they promise to b super careful and courteous like the cyclists you observed
A ridiculous false equivalency, even if you were only half serious.
Cars and bikes are not at all the same, and you bloody well know it. Totally different mass, speed, and acceleration, and thus force and momentum. Not to mention a cyclist can hear what’s going on around him and a motorist can’t. And a cyclist is about the width of a pedestrian too.
Obviously cyclists should not be bombing through pedestrian spaces, and if the pedestrian density is high enough, they should get off and walk. But I was on that stretch recently too and there were not very many pedestrians and the cyclists were slowly weaving amongst them. It was working splendidly.
Ian 08:10 on 2020-06-23 Permalink
So I guess they aren’t enforcing that it’s supposed to be pedestrian-only…
I am copy-pasting this from Luc Rabouin’s feed Facebook:
Random Citizen:
Pourquoi les vélos ne seront-ils pas permis tout en maintenant la priorité piétonne?
Rabouin:
Parce que c’est une rue piétonne pour déambuler tranquillement dans se soucier de faire attention aux autos ou aux vélos. C’est un choix. Il y a peu de rues 100% piétonnes à Montréal et nous l’expérimenterons sur Mont-Royal cet été.
Oh well, so much for that. Cyclists are clearly too precious to not ride their bikes on Mont-Royal. Not that I’m surprised, I live in the Plateau and I still see folks riding on sidewalks every day (no exaggeration) even on streets with bike paths. My own street has bi-directional bike paths and I still catch shade from bicyclists riding on the sidewalk. One ran right into my friend last week as we were walking on the sidewalk with our kids and the cyclist told my friend to watch where he was going! I know a lot of cyclists are thinking “maybe but that’s super rare” – but I assure you it’s not.
Please, don’t ride your bike where people are supposed to be walking. Especially when the borough is actively setting aside reserved space for bicyclists throughout the neighbourhood, to keep biking in pedestrian areas is just rude.