Plateau residents say new bike lane makes street too narrow for emergency vehicles

Residents of the Plateau-Mont-Royal say the city has botched the construction of a permanent bike lane on Clark Street because the road is now too narrow for emergency vehicles to drive down.

Running north-south, the path on Clark Street is used by many cyclists to get downtown.

The city recently built a protected bike lane with a wide concrete median along a section of Clark between St-Viateur Street and Laurier Avenue, with parking on either side of the one-way road.

People who live on Clark Street say the concrete median built to separate the bikes from cars is too broad, and as a result, larger vehicles can't squeeze past the parked cars on either side of the lane left to them.

Claude Girard, a Clark Street resident, told CBC that several weeks ago his neighbour asked the fire department to try and drive a fire truck down the street while it was lined with parked cars.

"The fire truck couldn't go through," said Girard.

Another local resident, Caroline Alexander, said she's concerned about what might happen in an emergency.

"If someone in a fragile health condition, it may be difficult for fire trucks and first responders to be able to have easy access," said Alexander.

She's also worried about whether there's enough space for an adapted transport van.

Alexander's mother uses a wheelchair and relies on the transport service to get from place to place.

"The fear is real," she told CBC Montreal's Daybreak.

In response to complaints, the city said it is prepared to reduce the median from 1.8 metres to 1.5 metres in order to widen the street for vehicular traffic. 

The median will also have a five-metre gap every 60 metres to facilitate snow removal.