Coroner recommends bike path on Park
In her report on the death of a cyclist on Park Avenue last September, coroner Marie-Claude Boutin recommends a bike path on the street to make it safer. Never gonna happen.
In her report on the death of a cyclist on Park Avenue last September, coroner Marie-Claude Boutin recommends a bike path on the street to make it safer. Never gonna happen.
Ian 08:07 on 2026-05-06 Permalink
For whatever reason the link won’t load…but there is a bike path, it just got a big upgrade, too…. it’s even fully separated from the roadway, and finally separated from the pedestrian walkway, too.
Why would the city put a bike path on Parc if there’s a really good bike path all along Jeanne-Mance Park, connecting to Mont-Royal path on one end & the Pins to Milton path on the other?
Chris 09:18 on 2026-05-06 Permalink
Heck, why does the city put car lanes on Parc? There’s a really good road all along Jeanne-Mance Park, connecting to Mont-Royal avenue on one end & the large St Laurent boulevard after that.
Just one possible route should be enough for motorists, right?
MarcG 09:38 on 2026-05-06 Permalink
The accident took place near Parc and Bernard.
Joey 09:49 on 2026-05-06 Permalink
It’s a real shame that Projet didn’t focus on getting the entire REV built and running in the first half of its first term. Bike paths are very unpopular before they’re built, but quickly become part of the permanent infrastructure once they’re in use. It shouldn’t have taken two full terms for Projet to resolve the Cote-Ste-Catherine/Mont-Royal and St-Urbain gaps in the network, especially since so much of their base is in the Plateau. And it’s really too bad that they didn’t bother dealing with Parc, despite the multiple deaths that occurred on their watch.
DeWolf 12:16 on 2026-05-06 Permalink
Joey is right that it’s a real stain on PM’s legacy that they seemed to ignore Park Avenue until the very last minute. (St-Urbain isn’t their fault, though — the bike path that now exists was planned in 2019, but it required the approval of the STM, and apparently they dragged their feet for years.) I think a big part of the reason why Park Avenue hasn’t been dealt with for so many years is because the city and STM have always wanted some kind of improved transit corridor there, but they can’t get their act together to actually go ahead with it. The Tremblay administration planned a tramway along Park but it fell through. Plante seemed to harbour vaguely similar ambitions but never made it a priority. Everybody has been passing the buck for years. And people have died as a result.
@Ian — The coroner’s report talks about Park Avenue in Mile End. You’re talking about the bike path in Jeanne-Mance Park. And I’m not sure what you mean when the path in the park got a big upgrade recently. The path below the monument hasn’t been changed since it was built in 2007. The only recent difference is that the multi-use path north of the monument was repaved in 2022, with a dotted yellow line added down the middle. There’s still no separation between cyclists and pedestrians in that section.
Ian 13:45 on 2026-05-06 Permalink
Ah ok I can see the article now.
Yes, yes, you’re all very witty, especially Chris.
@DeWolf the bike lane on the east side was completely redone from the corner down to Duluth, and the new confusing intersections at Mont Royal and Jeanne Mance. Maybe you forget that the old “bike path” was a crappy asphalt sidewalk barely wide enough for a stroller let alone strollers, bicyclists, pedestrians, etc. I know things being done in sections confuses you, but if the last section was finished last year…
Regardless, we have discussed Parc between Mont Royal and Van Horne before, it’s total garbage for sure – even if we could normalize pedestrian crossings & traffic lights it would make a huge difference – scramble crossings, one way traffic on Bernard, St-V, and Fairmount. Bike paths on Parc would be easy if they simply got rid of the parking lane on one side and made the lane directions the same at all times of day – that switching lane is a menace. I guess the main question would be what happens with the STM reserved lane, they won’t want to get rid of that.
Nobody has even managed to figured out the bike path on Jeanne Mance – it’s no wonder they never got around to Parc. Then again seeing as construction seems to be ongoing if not eternal around Mont Royal and Parc there is always the possibility that they will just redo the whole thing bit by bit until nobody is happy.
jaddle 15:32 on 2026-05-06 Permalink
@Ian “Completely redone” was, as @deWolf says, just a repaving with a line painted down the middle, and a couple of signs to remove the ambiguity – it’s clear now that it has to function as a bike path and sidewalk, whereas before, there was no signage making it explicit. I don’t think it’s any wider than it used to be, unless you count how much the crumbling edges narrowed the path before.
Joey 17:32 on 2026-05-06 Permalink
@jaddle I think Ian is referring to the bike lane on Esplanade south of Mt-Royal along the eastern edge of the park.