roadwork redo case no. 2: christophe-colomb bike path created twice in three years
3 minute read
crews near the end of work on the christophe-colomb ave. bike path near jean-talon st. on october 15, 2025.
pierre obendrauf
/
montreal gazette
montrealers who think the city does construction work over and over on the same streets: it’s not your imagination.
the gazette has reviewed a handful of recent roadwork projects to understand how and why this phenomenon occurs. here is case no. 2.
location:
christophe-colomb ave., boroughs of ahuntsic-cartierville, rosemont—la petite-patrie, villeray—st-michel—parc-extension
the issue:
in 2023, the city built six-kilometre bike lanes on both sides of christophe-colomb ave. in 2024, the city closed a one-kilometre stretch of the new bike paths, between jean-talon and jarry sts., for two years to completely rebuild the road and underground water and sewer infrastructure there. the city also returned in 2025 to “make permanent” the rest of the bike lanes built in 2023.
meanwhile, the city hasn’t replaced all the lead service lines on christophe-colomb.
the city’s explanation:
it was planned this way. the alternative bike route — a two-way path on boyer st. — no longer met needs due to its width and high traffic volume. the lanes built in 2023 were meant to rapidly improve safety on christophe-colomb, which has several schools and a sports centre and was very dangerous, while the 2025 work was done to render the bike paths “permanent.” between 2015 and 2021, 91 cyclists were injured, including two seriously, in 115 collisions involving cyclists and motorists on christophe-colomb.
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between jean-talon and jarry, the city was “pragmatic” and built the bike lanes and a school bus bay as “temporary” in 2023 in anticipation of the section’s reconstruction.
in 2025, the city returned to christophe-colomb ave. to “make permanent” the rest of the bike lanes built in 2023.
pierre obendrauf
/
montreal gazette
what the critics say:
this is poor planning and the sequence of work is illogical, says the association des scientifiques et ingénieurs de montréal, the union representing city engineers. the city has known for at least a decade that christophe-colomb is dangerous, so it had ample time to plan and execute underground repair and then build the bike paths.
the city is confusing cyclists by rerouting the bike path from boyer to christophe-colomb for one year, then rerouting it again to boyer during the two-year reconstruction of christophe-colomb between jean-talon and jarry. the city has basically created the christophe-colomb bike path twice in three years, with the 2025 version being more of a “cadillac” compared to the first.
the details:
in 2023, montreal awarded a $1.98-million contract to bruneau électrique inc. to build “permanent” one-way bike lanes on both sides of christophe-colomb, between rosemont and gouin blvds. the work included traffic lights, concrete lane barriers and concrete school bus bays in front of three elementary schools.
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in 2024, the city awarded a $10.65-million contract to les entreprises michaudville inc. to “implement” an “express bike network” on either side of christophe-colomb, between rosemont and henri-bourassa blvd., one street south of the 2023 contract. the new contract, executed in 2025, called for “implementing” bike lanes on both sides, changing street lighting and traffic signals, planting trees, constructing concrete lane barriers, reconstructing some sidewalks and modifying some conduits that house public utility lines.
the project to rebuild christophe-colomb between jean-talon and jarry is under a separate $33-million contract.
city spokesperson hugo bourgoin said the 2023 work consisted mainly of minor, surface improvements, while the second project in 2025 was intended “to perpetuate these improvements.” for example, the city added concrete public transit bus bays in 2025.
still, bourgoin said some of the concrete barriers built in 2023 were demolished and rebuilt in 2025 for “various technical reasons.”
gisella gesuale, president of the union representing city engineers, maintains it was poor planning to do the bike lanes without the lead pipe replacement and underground infrastructure work.
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valérie plante’s projet montréal administration has been in power for eight years, she added, and christophe-colomb didn’t become dangerous overnight.
the upshot:
cones and construction work along christophe-colomb for nearly three years and the city will have to come back someday to replace lead entry lines.
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