Frustrated Concordia student cyclists have been evading dangerous roadwork for the past five years.
Around McGill College Ave., cyclists have to merge with cars into a single lane on one of the city’s main bike arteries where a million passages occur yearly, according to the City of Montreal’s data.
“It’s very dangerous,” said Concordia studio arts major Sharla Gelfand. They have been using their bike to commute for 12 years.
“It’s insane to me that this is the major bike path that’s going to both universities […] and half of the street is closed,” they said while locking their bike before class.
Obstruction created by the REM
The issue is caused by the construction of the Réseau Express Métropolitain’s (REM) McGill station. The construction site closed part of McGill College Ave. and reduced De Maisonneuve Blvd. to one lane in addition to blocking the bike path, forcing bike users to squeeze between the cars and the worksite’s concrete barrier.
As an experienced biker, Concordia electrical engineering student Christopher Mollenhoff prefers to ride on Sherbrooke St. surrounded by cars than to use the De Maisonneuve path.
“It feels like a chokehold,” he said at the Sir George Williams campus’ bike racks. “I trust myself being on the road with cars more than being in there, in the chokehold area.”
REM media relations director Francis Labbé said that a detour is proposed on President-Kennedy Ave. to avoid this part of the road. While a lot of the eastbound cyclists use this detour, it’s not the case for most of the westbound bikers, many of whom shared their preference for staying on De Maisonneuve Blvd.
According to the Concordia mathematics undergraduate student Sabrina Burazer, the design of the detour is to blame for its low number of users.
“When you come westbound, it’s super unclear, and, depending on where you’re coming from, you kind of just end up on the street,” she said.
The potential danger for cyclists
There have been no reported accidents to the SPVM involving a bicycle at this corner in the first two years of this construction. The SPVM refused to disclose recent data for incidents after 2021.
According to Mollenhoff, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a crash there.
“I can imagine a situation where someone would actually get hurt, you know. It is rather not safe if you think about it,” he said.
Burazer also feels unsafe when she uses this path. “When there’s a lot of traffic, it’s pretty scary,” she said.
The construction should be over by the beginning of 2025, according to Labbé. Unfortunately, the wait is getting tiresome for cyclists who have had to deal with this situation everyday for years, mechanical engineering student Hassan Korman said.
“I think it’s been closed for a little too long. But that’s Montreal for you,” said Korman.
