We’ve lost thousands of dollars because of bike path, N.D.G. church says

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Some residents of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce are demanding a new bike path on Terrebonne St. be closed for the winter and for public consultations to be held because it’s disrupting their lives and that of churches, schools and businesses along its route.

Borough officials however, say the changes to Terrebonne St. implanted this summer — adding a 2.3-kilometre bike lane on both sides of the street, and changing the two-way street into a one-way boulevard — have resulted in safety improvements for all users. Cyclists who use the new path to bring their children to school were also in favour of keeping the path flowing.

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At a news conference in front of St. Monica’s Church attended by roughly 20 protesters Wednesday, church warden Paul Wong outlined how attendance at weekend masses has declined by an average of 30 per cent because elderly parishioners are no longer allowed to park or be dropped off in front. The church has not been able to book weddings or funerals because limousines and cortèges can’t pull up at the church’s front steps. Attendance at community events like tai-chi classes held in the basement is also down.

“We were $5,200 in the red in August,” Wong said, as donations from parishioners and revenue for other services dropped. “This has never happened before. If it continues, we could be $60,000 to $80,000 in debt by the end of the year.”

The church asked in May for a vignette that would allow temporary parking for weddings and funerals, obliging cyclists to walk their bikes for 100 metres around event parking, but said the request was refused by the borough of Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce.

Some residents complained they have to drive a detour of several blocks due to the new one-way configuration, and that drop-off spots in front of local schools are so limited traffic is backed up down the street in the mornings. Teachers, nurses and other local workers have also complained about a lack of parking.

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Sonny Moroz, a city councillor with opposition Ensemble Montréal, said residents are mainly upset that a citizen’s committee was formed to come to a consensus on the major issues, but feel their concerns were ignored.

“We worked for months and months, with hours upon hours of volunteer work, to find a compromise, and ultimately they ignored all our recommendations and pushed through the exact same idea they had from the beginning. … If you do too may things too quickly without including residents you’re going to end up with predictable results, you’re going to end up with people upset and people excluded from the project.”

Another version of the bike path was opened in 2020 and then quickly forced to close after public outcry.

Despina Sourias, the Projet Montréal city councillor for the Loyola district of the borough, said overall reaction to the bike path and lane changes has been positive from residents, cyclists and pedestrians. The borough spent five years working on the reconfiguration of the street to reduce the amount of traffic flowing eastward and listened to input from the public, and is not planning to remove the path. She said the borough is open to modifying it where possible to resolve issues.

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“There are some people who are protesting, but a lot of people are pretty satisfied with the work that we’ve done to reconfigure Terrebonne St. to make it safer,” Sourias said. “We’re hearing that people are using the bike path or that pedestrians are using the street more because they feel safer. There’s a sense of calming on the street.”

Sourias said she has not heard from the three schools on the street, nor St. Monica’s Church, since the bike path opened. She invited anyone with issues to contact the borough so that fixes can be found, if possible, with city engineers involved.

Borough officials did speak with the Mackay Centre and Philip E. Layton School that share space and offer services to children who are visually, aurally or physically impaired at the beginning of the school year and adjusted the project so they would have sufficient parking for parents. St. Monica’s Church is also allowed to use the parking facilities at the Mackay Centre next door.

“I’m a bit surprised that they’re going to the news media before they come to us, because they know we have an open-door policy around this,” she said.

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Kim Piché and her daughter, Clara, cycling home from Villa Maria High School where Clara attends Grade 7, were among happy proponents of the path.

“It’s a great bike path to get us across the major intersections like Cavendish and Grand Blvds.” Piché said. “We’re so grateful for it because even though there are other paths on Fielding Ave. or on de Maisonneuve Blvd., they’re not really very useful for people who need to go along Terrebonne. And there are a lot of schools in this area.”

Piché said she has seen many parents cycling with their children to school on the new path.

Former city councillor Marvin Rotrand, who helped to organize the protest, said Montreal has created one of the largest bike path networks of any city in the world, but has often failed to consult with the residents of local neighbourhoods before implanting them.

“If Terrebonne residents were angry four years ago, today they are furious,” he said. “At the least, we need dialogue.”

rbruemmer@postmedia.com

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