Terrebonne Bike Path 2024 Edition Information Session

 A.T. went to the Bibliothèque Benny Information Session on the 2024 version of a Bike Path for Terrebonne Ave.  He arrived on time at 7:00 pm but the lecture hall (capacity 200) was already full and there was a line up extending well into the entrance hall.  Obviously this bike path was generating a lot of controversy.

  A city employee came to the entrance hall and invited everyone to the main foyer where he would give the same presentation as the one in the lecture hall.  This was met by many shouts suggesting that there is a conspiracy afoot by the government to keep people out of the already full lecture hall.

After a few minutes of shouted debate about this theory, the crowd did move out into the main foyer and  the presentation on the 3 different versions of a bike path by this unfortunate city employee began. A few cries erupted about how their freedoms were being taken away, and this unlucky speaker demanded from the crowd that all questions be held until after the full presentation.

It soon became obvious that this this was a well studied bike path and has an extensive report (351 pages).

The presentation went on for about an hour, interrupted at times by various demands for more consultation.  Perhaps more photos like this which I believe is from ANNEX F

 

When the foyer overflow crowd question period did finally begin, there were no questions on the subject of the report outlining the merits of various bike path proposals.  Mostly there were emotional arguments from both sides regarding the mechanics of the civic consultation procedure, lost parking spots and the dangerous nature of NDG streets.  The noise from the main lecture hall began to subside and as some people left this hall, foyer replacements were allowed to enter the main show. Rather than wait for an empty place at the main show, A.T. went home.

Overall, this Information Session event was a sad display of how deeply car addiction can affect people and how this addiction can paralyze any change.