﻿Montreal is an exciting place for transportation right now. Not only is it more than doubling
its rapid transit network with a new automated light metro system called the
reseau express metropolitain, it’s also really strengthening its bike infrastructure with the
similarly-named reseau express velo, or express bike network. This 184 km series
of new and improved bike lanes will cover 17 corridors or axes across the island and is
meant to help the city reach its goal of 15% of trips being done by bike within 10 years.
In this video we’re going to showcase the recently constructed Axis #1 of the REV, which cuts
across the island of Montreal and covers 9km from Ahuntsic to the Plateau. In Ahuntsic, this axis of
the REV gives cyclists full car lanes on parallel roads, with the direction away from downtown
taking Lajeunesse Street and towards downtown taking Berri. Halfway through the corridor these
lanes merge onto St-Denis, where they continue in a similar configuration, maybe not quite as wide
as a full car lane but still very comfortably spacious. Once you’re close to downtown the REV
technically ends, but the older two-way cycle track on Berri Street functions as an extension
for another 2km to downtown and Old Montreal. There’s a lot to like about this project. We live
near St-Denis and it’s a noticeable improvement in atmosphere and accessibility to take the street
from six lanes dedicated to moving and parked cars to four lanes. We definitely ended up using this
street more often after the changes and not just as cyclists, even as pedestrians.
Obviously a big feature of this corridor is the space. Lanes are between 2.3 and 3 metres wide,
which is up to double the width of existing bike lanes. Having a whole car lane for bikes is
wonderful because it means very little conflict between cyclists going at different speeds.
Comfortable lane widths also open up the space to methods of getting around that are slower than
biking but faster than walking, like skateboards, push scooters, and mobility scooters.
The extra space makes the REV one of the most family-friendly parts of Montreal’s bike network,
because children tend to bike slower or in less of a straight line, or they use push scooters,
or they have their parents nearby. So far we’ve seen more children and families on
these lanes than on the city’s existing bike lanes that are nice but narrow.
The separation from traffic is also pretty good. There’s concrete separation in key
places like near intersections and under viaducts, and you’re separated from traffic
by parked cars elsewhere. The parked cars feel comfortably far enough away that getting doored
doesn’t seem like a big concern, and we’re much happier to have parked cars on the
left to separate us from traffic than on the right to separate us from the sidewalk.
The next thing we like about the REV is how direct and simple it is. When bike infrastructure
frequently changes streets or stops abruptly, a network that looks like it has good coverage
ends up taking a lot of extra time, mental energy, and planning. With the REV, you can traverse the
whole island, about 11km, while going completely straight except for one or two street changes,
depending on the direction you’re going , which is pretty good and probably no less direct than
a similar driving route here. This corridor connects a number of
dense neighbourhoods to each other, while also linking up with lots of other important bike
routes covering downtown, the Lachine Canal, other new REV corridors like Bellechasse,
and bike routes into both of Montreal’s main off-island suburban agglomerations.
The transit connections are endless too, because this follows along one of Montreal’s metro lines
and also passes a commuter rail line. There are lots of other small features to
point out in this axis of the REV, like bike detection pads to change the light for at least
one intersection we saw, cyclist-specific traffic lights that give a head start at
numerous intersections, extra pedestrian crossings, the removal of a slip lane,
integrated bus stops that give transit users an elevated platform to wait for the bus,
and a snow clearing plan to keep it accessible 12 months of the year. The city’s materials on the
project also show that they have lots of future plans, like rest stations with bike tools.
It’s hard not to be excited about these improvements to Montreal’s bike network.
This first axis of the REV is already turning out to be one of the most useful and convenient bike
routes for us, and apparently lots of other people too. It’s still only March and we’re barely out of
winter so we haven’t seen summer volumes yet but it does compare well to other bike routes so far.
In January and February we found St-Denis to be the easiest place to get shots of winter
cycling because it always had at least some cyclists, even in the worst conditions.
As much as we’re happy to see this project, it’s obviously not perfect. Having to switch streets
once or twice in an 11km trip across the island is reasonable, but the way it works can be confusing
if you don’t know what to expect, particularly if you’re coming from downtown and you see your lane
end when the directions split off onto parallel streets. There is a small sign saying to turn
right, but it’s not entirely clear that that’s what you need to do to keep going straight.
One interesting issue with the spacious lanes is that people sometimes take them in the wrong
direction, especially when the route is split between the two parallel streets and the lanes
are extra big. Maybe they don’t know about the other street, or maybe they don’t care
because there’s so much room. On one hand there often is enough room for them, but on the other
hand when they do that it basically turns the lane into a normal two-way narrow cycle track
and it loses a lot of the advantages it has in safety and comfort, especially for children.
On the topic of safety, many people have taken issue with the fact that this corridor doesn't
have concrete separation where cars are parked. Full concrete separation would be nice, but it
hasn’t seemed like a major problem so far. There’s still concrete at the most important places,
and all the space means that in our experience the parked cars are a comfortable distance away.
Plus, from what we understand, they avoided full concrete separation to make snow removal easier,
and the all-season accessibility of these bike lanes is an important feature.
One improvement that would be welcome is paint or coloured asphalt to make the entire bike lane
a distinct colour for the whole length, like the blue sometimes used in Copenhagen or the
red in the Netherlands. This could alert people to watch for bikes when they cross the path, and
it could help guide cyclists in one area where the route splits off and is slightly confusing.
Despite a few concerns, as you can tell we’re pretty happy with the REV so far.
It’s impressive reading through the city’s public consultation documents and seeing that basically
all of the things we like about the REV, like the directness of the route, size of the lanes, safety
near intersections, and good condition of the road surface were all concerns raised by the public
that the city took concrete steps to address. More generally, it’s just nice to see a serious
effort to rethink road space and develop a more balanced transportation system. This project is
a big step towards including cyclists in the road network, with smaller improvements for pedestrians
and transit users, and there are still lanes left over for cars to drive through and park on.
Thanks for watching. Don’t forget to bike and subscribe!