A new bylaw will keep St. Andre St. in the Plateau accessible to drivers but will give priority to cyclists and pedestrians in a bid to make the street safer.
The bylaw keeps most of St. Andre open to motorists between Cherrier and Laurier, but will force them to turn off at various points.
City councillor Alex Norris said the motion is part of a revitalization project on the street. With much of the infrastructure needing to be replaced, the city will widen sidewalks and bike paths as the work goes on.
"All of the water mains have to be redone in any event," he said. "There is going to be a major construction project one way or the other so we're taking advantage of that project to improve the street."
Construction on that project begins in spring and work will be done in phases along the street, concluding in November, 2019.
Norris said the goals are “to make it safer for cyclists and pedestrians, to add a lot more trees to the street and to relieve pressure on the bike path, which is the busiest in Canada, that runs along the side of Parc Lafontaine. There are often traffic jams there in the summer. This street will remain fully accessible to motorists but it will not be a through-street for motorists.”
Norris noted that St. Andre is not a main roadway for cars and that parking will be "very little affected."
"It's good for motorists when we encourage cyclists because it eases pressure on our roadways," he said. "Close to 15 per cent of Plateau residents now use their bicycle as their main means of transport. Can you imagine what would happen if all those people had cars? How much more congestion their would be?"
The bylaw was adopted in a vote by Montreal’s executive committee on Wednesday night. Similar motions had been put forth by the two previous administrations but were never adopted.
Frederic Gautherin, a chef at Cafe Ze Yeti, said he's in favour of the move, noting that much of his traffic comes from cyclists.
