NDG cycling advocates call for parking lane removal on Grand Blvd.

Cycling advocates in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce are calling on the borough to remove one parking lane on a stretch of road they say is dangerous and confusing for cyclists.

Grand Boulevard is too narrow between Monkland Avenue and De Maisonneuve Boulevard to accommodate one lane of traffic, two bicycle lanes and two parking lanes, said Jason Savard, spokesperson for the Association of Pedestrians and Cyclists of NDG.

"[There's] not a lot of space," Savard said. "We don't want to compromise the safety of cyclists for a few parking spots."

Grand Boulevard is a one-way street for northbound cars between De Maisonneuve and Monkland, with a designated lane on each side of the street for bicycles, including for southbound cyclists.

Savard says there's lots of confusion for cyclists.

"Cyclists [are] wondering where they should go — right in the middle, left, right — because the cars are forcing them one way or the other," Savard said.

The association is calling on the borough not only to remove parking on one side, but to put in place a two-lane bike path, instead of having one lane on either side.

The narrow street isn't the only problem — the northbound bicycle lane has paint that is so faded, it's difficult for cyclists see it, and it's been that way for months.

The delay in repainting is a result of how centralized borough services have been delegated, according to Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough spokesperson Catherine Lavarenne.

One borough, Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie, is in charge of dealing with the street paint in the city.

"What we're looking at now is looking at possible ways, maybe other boroughs that could have a little bit of that work to do," Lavarenne said.

That's a work in progress, she said.

Rain earlier in the season also pushed the street painting back about a month, she said.

The new Projet Montréal borough administration, helmed by Sue Montgomery, is more receptive than the former administration to the idea of removing parking spots, Savard said.

However, there's been no suggested solution to the Grand Boulevard problem thus far.

Removing parking a possibility: borough

According to Lavarenne, Savard's proposed solution is definitely one that's possible, but no option is off the table — even removing one of the bike lanes. .

"It is a potentially dangerous situation," Lavarenne said.

She said the borough has to examine the impact on every decision it makes.

Projet Montréal was elected on a platform that focused on mobility, public transit and cycling advocacy, but Lavarenne says the CDN-NDG borough is not in the same situation as the rest of the city because public transit is less accessible in the area.

"We want to avoid solving one problem and creating another one."

She said that the administration has to take everybody's needs into account, which is why things aren't changed overnight.

"Maybe removing the parking is what we do in the end, but we're not there yet."