A Nov. 22 letter Joe Ortona sent to the Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough council claims that the bike lanes were responsible for a bus striking a car.
That letter “surprised” Despina Sourias, the Projet Montréal city councillor for the Loyola district of the borough. She told The Gazette that the bike lanes have slowed traffic and made Terrebonne St. safer for all users.
Ortona’s letter began with a reference to an incident in which a car and bus “sustained considerable damage” in front of St. Monica’s Elementary School.
“We firmly believe that the accident was a direct result of the borough’s redesign of Terrebonne Ave., which included narrowing the roadway to accommodate bike paths on both sides,” the letter read in part.
Ortona told The Gazette the incident involved a school bus striking a parked car, but he didn’t provide details showing how the bike lanes were to blame.
“A car was parked and I’m not sure if it was far off the curb or what. I wasn’t there, so I don’t have the exact circumstances,” Ortona said.
EMSB spokesperson Mike Cohen confirmed to The Gazette that the board hadn’t been in touch with anyone involved in the incident. He said the bus struck the open door of the car.
But both him and Ortona said the narrowing of the street to accommodate bike lanes is causing problems for drivers coming to the school.
Ortona called for the closure of the bike lanes during the winter between Madison Ave. and Cavendish Blvd., a stretch that includes three EMSB schools: the Mackay Centre and Philip E. Layton schools, which serve students with special needs, and St. Monica’s Elementary School. The Terrebonne St. bike lane also neighbours the junior campus of Willingdon Elementary School.
He also asked for a joint committee of “EMSB specialists and borough traffic officials” to redesign the street in time for the spring.
Sourias called Ortona’s assertion that the bike lanes were to blame for the incident “reductionist.” She said that she, like Ortona, didn’t have the whole picture of the incident.
“It’s his interpretation,” she said, but if it were her, she said she would want to understand every factor at play before making a judgment. “Was the bus driver paying attention? … Was the car parked too far out?”
She rejected Ortona’s argument that the bike lanes should be removed to widen the street over the winter, saying a narrow lane is a good thing.
“The idea is that by narrowing the street it makes the cars go slow,” Sourias said.
The Terrebonne St. bike lanes aren’t just intended to serve cyclists, she said, but are “a way to appease the cohabitation of the street for all users.”
Ortona said that, ultimately, he wasn’t opposed to bike lanes on Terrebonne St.
“There are benefits to the bike path. I don’t want to turn this into an issue of leaving the bike path as it is and taking it out completely. Because that’s just polarizing the debate,” he said.
He said his objection is with “the borough administration imposing its will without any regard for any legitimate concerns that have come forward.”
But Sourias said she hadn’t heard complaints from schools since the school year started.
School principals wouldn’t talk to The Gazette or other media about the bike lanes, Cohen said. He said that Ortona represents their concerns and is the spokesperson on the issue.
Sourias said she often talks to parents of students “who were (initially) not sure about (the bike lanes) who tell me that they’re happy.”
People are noticing that Terrebonne St. is calmer, she said, adding that the bike paths now allow kids to bike to school, either alongside their parents or alone.
Ortona’s position is “a very surprising stance from a person who’s supposed to be thinking about encouraging active mobility, supposed to be thinking about security,” Sourias said.
She said that police officers who have visited the area since the bike lanes opened haven’t reported any safety concerns.
In February before the bike lanes were installed, Ortona sent a first letter to the borough. It asked the borough to engage in a more thorough consultation process and to reconsider the project.
Sourias said that she and Ortona haven’t spoken since the letter was released but that she was sure the two of them would soon.
“I would rather him talk to me directly,” she said.