A fourth cycle path ends at the limit of Saint-Léonard

The Villeray and Saint-Michel districts now have a cycle path on rue Villeray, a path that stops exactly before arriving in Saint-Léonard, making it the fourth cycle path to disappear at the border of the borough. .

The small Léonardois bicycle network is therefore a closed circuit that is not connected to the rest of the Montreal bicycle network. In this borough, crossing Highway 40 poses many logistical problems.

In addition to the new bike path on rue Villeray, the reserved lanes on the 30^e and 31^e Avenues, on the 36^e Avenue and on the 43^e and 44^e Avenues also stop at the entrance to Saint-Léonard.

A connected boulevard but without infrastructure

Nicolas Colarusso, a cyclist in the area, wonders why Boulevard Provencher is not considered for a cycle path. He explains that there is “already a cycle path on Lavoisier – which becomes Provencher”.

According to Mr. Colarusso, this possible cycle path could “continue to De Genes, south of the metropolitan area, and join the new cycle path on Villeray” and “join the cycle path on the 30^e Avenue ». The latter is itself connected to the bike paths on Saint-Zotique and Bellechasse streets.

In addition, Provencher Boulevard partially circumvents the constraint represented by Highway 40, this traffic lane passing below the highway viaduct and not being at the height of an interchange.

Mr. Colarusso says he has difficulty crossing Highway 40 by bike in this sector.

However, the Arrondissement of Saint-Léonard explains that it favors the 24^e Avenue, in Saint-Michel, rather than Boulevard Provencher. It does not justify this preference, although this axis does not reach the trails on Saint-Zotique and Bellechasse streets. A cycle path on the 24^e Avenue was already considered in the 2019 Montreal bike plan.

An axis on the 24^e Avenue

An infrastructure on the 24^e Avenue would thus join an extension of the cycle path on rue Jean-Rivard, a scenario also mentioned in the 2019 cycling plan. The portion of rue Jean-Rivard that already has a cycle path is part of the Leonardo network. Extend this axis and connect it to a track on the 24^e Avenue, itself connected to the Villeray track, would put an end to the isolation of the Leonardo cycle network.

About a track on the 24^e Avenue, the Mayor of Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension, Laurence Lavigne Lalonde, explains to Subway that « the priority for next year », after the east-west axis on rue Villeray, is the establishment of « north-south axes at Parc-Extension and Saint-Michel ». However, it specifies that the precise routes of these infrastructures have not yet been established.

Same word from the Borough of Saint-Léonard, which reveals that studies on parking are already underway for the establishment of a bike path on the 24^e Avenue, but that other streets are also being considered, such as 17^e Avenue or Boulevard Provencher.