Montreal commits to making city safer for cyclists

Faced with criticism after a number of serious accidents involving cyclists, the City of Montreal has announced new measures aimed at making the city's streets safer for biking.

"One death is one death too many," Mayor Denis Coderre said at a news conference Wednesday.

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The plansinclude:

• a website that annually publishes locations where accidents occur frequently. The 10 riskiestspots will be analyzed and targeted for improvement.
• examining the possibility of a30-km/hspeed limit in residential neighbourhoods and in front of schools.
• revising where trucks are allowed and aren't allowed in the city, as well as delivery zones, hoursand limits on truck sizes.
• 2017 awareness campaign focused on responsibly sharing the roads.
• a pilot project addingmore four-way stops to slow traffic.
• installation of priority lights for cyclists at some intersections.
• lanes reserved for buses, bikes andtaxis.

The plan, called Vision Zro,borrows from proposals put forward bythe OppositionProjet Montral, which has been pushing for the Coderre administration to make cycling safer.

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It also names the 10 most dangerous intersections in the city that will not be getting any infrastructure changes in the near future.

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"The bottom line is it's everybody's business. Use the technology, use the better engineering. Make sure that there's more education and enforcement, so you all understand that this is the social contract for Montreal. This is how it works," Coderre said.

The official opposition party, Projet Montral, said the plan sounds nice but lacks any concrete measures or deadlines. He would like Coderre to implement timelines for the action plan.

"To do all this, you need people. Just make us a promise that you will do it, because you will hire more engineers and they're ready to work and they're ready to deliver by this date," saidProjetMontral'sinterim leaderLucFerrandez.