Days after an 18-year-old cyclist was fatally struck by an SUV on Camillien-Houde Way, candidate for mayor Valerie Plante was addressing the issue of bike safety in Montreal.
The Projet Montreal leader called Clement Ouimet’s death “unacceptable,” saying if she is elected, the party would establish a cycling expressway.
A network of express bike paths would separate cyclists from traffic, coming at a price tag of $25 million per year over the next ten year.
Plante was not specific on the location or the timeframe of the bike path, but promised there would be a public consultation to establish it.
“We will be investing time, energy and money in securing the bike path and we want to create and express bike network. This way, all the 116,000 people that commute every day using their bikes can do it in a safer way. With the express bike path, it will be a good way to make sure to make sure there are fewer collisions,” she said.
As a result of the incident, Mayor Denis Coderre said he has set up a working group to examine the usage of both Camillien-Houde Dr. and Remembrance Rd. around the mountain.
Coderre visits Black Rock site
Coderre was at the Black Rock Memorial in the Southwest borough Friday, where he was discussing plans to honour the memory of many of Montreal’s Irish immigrants.
What is now a parking lot near the Victoria Bridge was a mass grave in the 1800s for 6,000 Irish immigrants killed by typhus fever in 1847.
For five years, members of the community have been fighting for a memorial park and museum. Many say the sacred ground has been ignored for far too long.
Coderre promised on Friday to honour those victims, though did not where a commemoration centre would be established or how much it would cost.
“We need to do something to make sure, from generation to generation, the people will understand and know what happened and it’s important to do so,” he said.
The Montreal municipal election is on Nov. 5.
