Outremont residents form human bike lane after borough removes Lajoie Avenue bike path for winter

Outremont residents and cycling advocates formed a human bike lane Tuesday morning on Lajoie Avenue, protesting the borough’s recent decision to remove a section of the protected cycling path for the winter.

The demonstration took place at Outremont and Lajoie avenues, where cyclists and parents say the corridor is heavily used by children travelling to nearby schools every morning.

The human bike lane was organized by citizen groups Transport Actif Outremont and Vélorution Montréal. They say the temporary removal of the protected lane leaves young cyclists more exposed during busy morning drop-off periods.

“It represents one of the only ways east-west to go between the east of the borough and many schools,” explained Emanuel Licha with Transport Actif Outremont. “So we are here facing École Lajoie, just behind me there’s École Guy-Drummond, École Stanislas, Collège Stanislas.”

“It’s to have a better safety for kids and everyone that passes to this bike path,” added Vélorution’s Julien Gagnon-Ouellette. “But it’s also to send a signal to say, this doesn’t close in winter normally. All the cycle paths should be open all year round.”

‘Complaints from residents’

The decision to change the bike lane was taken at the first council meeting of the borough’s new mayor, Caroline Braun, who was elected with Ensemble Montréal.

At the time, the borough signalled it would convert the protected south-side lane between Stuart and Outremont avenues into a shared lane and reinstate curbside parking for the winter months.

Mayor Braun tells CityNews in a statement the bike lane on Lajoie is not actually being dismantled.

“It will be converted into a shared street over approximately 200 metres, for a maximum duration of four months, with a speed limit of 20 km/h, as has been done in the past,” she wrote. “This solution was proposed by the Projet Montréal Outremont team, elected in September 2021 and of which Valérie Patreau was a member, following a high number of complaints from residents.

“In the long term, however, the Sustainable Mobility Plan provides for a more permanent redesign of Lajoie Street, including a one-way configuration and a bike lane.”

The decision has drawn mixed reactions since it was introduced. Some residents questioned the impact on safety and winter mobility, arguing the move represents a step backward for active transportation in the borough.

“It’s a bad decision because it’s where most of the security is needed, not on the main streets but on the secondary streets where kids, but also people that go to work and transit through Outremont,” said Outremont resident Kevin Grégoire.

Daughter struck by cyclist

Others, especially those living on Lajoie, supported restoring parking.

“People who live here, they can’t empty their cars because they’re being harassed because there’s no parking,” said Meilech Brach. “Our children, when the buses drive literally onto the curb because they don’t have (any)where to go because there’s a bike lane, and our children are walking on the sidewalks safe.”

“The issue is for us, it’s really tiring because we need a space to just stop the car and unload our things back in our house because it’s a really dense area and we don’t have any space to stop, just to stop the car,” added Madeleine Guay.

Zev Dov Lerner, who also lives in front of the bike lane on Lajoie, says his daughter was hit by a cyclist in front of their home after getting off of a school bus.

“Basically, my daughter came off the bus, the bus stopped, the stop sign opened and the bike went right through and knocked into her and she flew. She’s still traumatized,” Dov Lerner said.

“The biker barely stopped, like turned back and said sorry but just continued on.”

The 200-metre stretch of bike lane on Lajoie between Stuart and Outremont avenues is scheduled to reopen on April 1, 2026.