Camillien-Houde Way, Monk Blvd. to be taken over by cyclists, pedestrians for 6 Sundays this year

Montreal will be joining Paris, Mexico City and Bogota once again this summer and fall by temporarily turning two thoroughfares into cyclovias.

The two streets — Camillien Houde Way on Mount Royal and Monk Boulevard in the Southwest borough — will be closed to traffic during morning hours on six Sundays.

Cyclovia is a Spanish term for "cycleway." First created in Bogota, Colombia, streets are closed off to vehicles on Sundays so that pedestrians and cyclists can use them.

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante says the aim is to encourage people to think about adopting active means of transportation and a more healthy lifestyle.

"I don't think this initiative is anti-car. It is reductive to think of it like that. It is once a month, maybe two months, where we close a section of the street," she said.

This is will be third year that Monk Boulevard will be closed to traffic for cyclovia events.

Dayne Louise has worked for 25 years in a dépanneur located on the affected stretch of Monk Boulevard.

She said Monk is an important artery in Verdun, with two bus lines and a metro, and last year's turnout for cyclovia was not impressive.

"It was was not worth it. Maybe we saw two families that passed by? And that's it."

Southwest borough councillor Alain Vaillancourt says that as the event becomes better known, residents and merchants are slowly warming up to it.

"We actually put counters on last year to have numbers to see, and every year we have more and more people coming," Vaillancourt said.

Despite closing a portion of the streets off to traffic for a total of 10 days this summer, some Montrealers say they're looking forward to it.

"You get to discover [your city] in a more active way," said Joana Baghdane. "As a new mom ... there isn't a lot of access for my kid to just roll around the street, so it would be nice, even when he grows up a little bit, to put him on a bike with me to go cycling."

Jeff Cohen said it makes sense to make Camillien Houde Way on Mount Royal more accessible to tourists and pedestrians.

"This is a beautiful part of the city so I don't think it's that bad of an idea. I don't really know the impact it will have on the traffic and on the area here but, for a few hours, I don't think it'll be that bad."

The city will spend $70,000 on this initiative, including setting up activities and street fairs for all ages and fitness levels along the streets.

Dates

Camillien Houde Way will become a cyclovia, from 7:30 a.m. until noon on the following dates:

• Sunday, May 20.
• Sunday, June 17.
• Sunday, July 15.
• Sunday, Aug. 19.
• Sunday, Sept. 16.
• Sunday, Oct. 7.

Monk Boulevard will turn into a cyclovia from 7:30 a.m. until noon on the following dates:

• Sunday, June 17.
• Sunday, July 15.
• Sunday, Aug. 19.
• Sunday, Sept. 16.