Montreal is closing its famous road over Mount Royal. What does that mean for you?

Cyclists are rejoicing. Some drivers are enraged. Camillien-Houde Way, the road up Mount Royal, will be barred to most motor vehicles in the coming years. 

The plan to redesign the road will see it turned into a shaded pedestrian footpath toward the summit alongside a path for cyclists. At the top of the road, where there's a gap in the trees facing north, the city will build a new summit lookout.

The new bike path will be wide enough to accommodate emergency vehicles in a pinch. 

But how will people get there? What does the closure mean for drivers? and what will the new paths look like for pedestrians and cyclists?

We tried to answer some of those questions and others: 

How will emergency vehicles safely use the path without putting cyclists and pedestrians in danger?

Montreal's fire chief, Richard Liebmann, says the details of how that would work are still being ironed out. 

According to the city's plan, the new bike path will only be ready to go in 2028, so there's time yet for emergency responders to figure out how they can share the space with cyclists. 

In any case, emergency vehicles would only use the path to respond to emergency calls either on the mountain or as a shortcut to get across the city quickly.

Montreal closing mountain road to cars

1 year ago

Duration 0:59

By the end of the decade, Camillien-Houde Way, which runs over Mount Royal, will be closed to cars.

Will there be a new way to get to the cemetery or will everybody, including hearses and funeral processions, be forced to go around?

There's no indication that hearses or funeral processions will be able to use the bike path route. That means Mount Royal Cemetery will only be accessible from Remembrance Road on the west side of the mountain. 

Will the bike path be wide enough that high-speed cyclists will be able to safely zoom down the hill without clashing with pedestrians, slower cyclists and other park users?

It will be wide — wide enough to accommodate emergency vehicles, including fire trucks. Pedestrians will be safely separated from the bikes if they use the separate footpath, parallel to the bike path. According to the city's first depictions of the plan, the two paths are divided by a line of trees. It's not clear at this point how two-way cycling traffic will be managed.

Will the path be straight to allow for higher cycling speeds downhill or will it be curved to deter speeding?

Camillien-Houde is a curved road with some straight sections. It's unclear if the city plans to add more curves to it to deter speeding.

What will be done with the popular parking spot with a view on Camillien-Houde Way?

The city plans to build a new lookout at the top of Camillien-Houde Way. The new one will face north, unlike the current lookout which faces east toward the Olympic Stadium. The old lookout will no longer be accessible by car. 

Has Montreal considered installing a funicular again to improve access to the top?

There used to be a funicular up Mount Royal in the late 1800s and early 1900s and, later, a tramway that travelled up the length of Camillien-Houde Way. But the tramway was torn down in 1959. There is no plan for a tramway or a funicular included in the city's latest plan for Camillien-Houde Way. People will have to walk or bike to the summit.  

How will the closure affect buses?

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said buses will continue to run on Remembrance Road, bringing people to the mountain, or at least to the area near Smith House, where there is parking and a bus stop. 

The city says the STM No. 11 bus line, which currently runs up Camillien-Houde Way, will be reconfigured and will run with greater frequency.

Has the city studied the environmental harm of causing traffic jams by diverting motorists to nearby neighbourhoods versus the benefit of adding more green space?

This was studied by the city's public consultation office in 2018 during a pilot project that closed the mountain road to through-traffic for five months.

The Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM) concluded that the closure did cause congestion on surrounding roadways. The closure also created a perception that getting to the mountain was harder.

Based on the data provided and the opinions expressed, the pilot project didn't seem to "solve the problem of security and sharing of the road," Dominique Ollivier, the head of the OCPM said at the time.

What happened with the public consultations?

When the OCPM released its conclusions, recommending that Camillien-Houde Way remain open to traffic — albeit with changes to make it safer for cyclists — the mayor said she intended to follow the recommendations. 

The opposition at city hall has now accused her of going back on her word and ignoring those recommendations. 

When will the changes take place?

Work is set to begin on the Remembrance Road side of the mountain in 2024, but Camillien-Houde Way will only be redone in 2027, after Montreal plays host to the 2026 world road cycling championships and it will only be completed in 2028, according to the city's preliminary plan. The entire project will be completed by 2029.