After the floods caused by the torrential rains of July 13 in Montreal, the Montreal overall chef, Soraya Martinez Ferrada, argued that it would be time to take a short break with cycle paths and invest in the sewers “. This position may surprise, since the town hall candidate defended the cycle paths just a year ago.
In 2024, Soraya Martinez Ferrada argued for the establishment of sustainable mobility corridors in the sector.
In a memoir related to the controversial Ray-Mont Logistics project submitted before the Montreal Public Consultation Office (OCPM), it argued to “set up infrastructure promoting active modes of transport, such as cycling and walking, to encourage ecological trips” in the Mercier-Hochelaga Maisonneuve district.
The one who was then still federal deputy also wanted a corridor of sustainable mobility to be added “quickly” to Hochelaga Street.
• Read also: Should we stop listening to the “bikes”, these “false experts” who criticize cycle paths?
It is not the only time that Soraya Martinez Ferrada deplored the lack of infrastructure for public transport and active transport in the district of Hochelaga that she represented until the last federal elections.
She did it in debates in the House of Commons in 2021.
In 2020, she also said that “the construction of more public transport and active transport solutions” was a way of “achieving the zero net emission by 2050” and that “structuring transport is a cornerstone of east development”.
Soraya Martinez Ferrada seems to have since changed her idea, she who said last February that “the question of cycle paths has become a bit of the Dogmatism icon of an ideology” in Montreal.
Do not “impose” the cycle paths
Together Montreal defends the recent statements of his bike chef.
The training considers that “many investments have been made in recent years” to improve the cycle network in Montreal and that the “delay” was caught.
“It is impossible to develop new cycle paths without first restoring the bond of confidence between Montrealers and the municipal administration, and this is what our party undertakes to do,” said the spokesperson for Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Félix Lacerte-Gauthier, in a message transmitted to 24 hours.
• Read also: Recover: Back on the last incredible years of Denis Coderre, who leaves political life
A “relatively moderate” position
The professor at UQAM and specialized in municipal management, Danielle Pilette, describes the position of Soraya Martinez Ferrada as “relatively moderate”.
Ms. Pilette stresses that the candidate suggests “simply a break in the cycle paths and not the dismantling of some of the existing tracks or under construction in Montreal”.
We are far from the Ontario government which adopted a law to remove cycle paths in Toronto in order to improve the fluidity of traffic, she believes.
Danielle Pilette also recalls that there is a certain resistance in Montreal with regard to bikes.
“Even in central districts, cycle paths have been strongly disputed. It is probably necessary to also consider the position of voters and electricities coveted by together Montreal together, ”continues Professor Pilette.
Courtesy photo
Equiterre recalls for its part that if some Montrealers are against the development of certain cycle paths, others are in agreement and vote accordingly.
The development of a cycle network makes it possible to green the city and goes hand in hand with the development of “new infrastructures to deal with storms, floods, heat waves”, adds the organization manager of the organization, Anthony on the Leduc.
• Read also: “It is a service to the community”: it moves by bike, summer and winter
To see too
