Last spring, the borough of Ahuntsic-Cartierville installed a new bike lane, slicing through Montreal’s historic Garment District. Businesses claimed to suffer sales losses as customers who could not find parking started shopping elsewhere. At least, that’s the narrative that news outlets perpetuate. In reality, while controversy around new bike lanes is expected as they require a redistribution of public space, this controversy often finds itself in relentless opposition to much-needed infrastructure projects.
The Garment District, a block of buildings along a narrow section of rue Chabanel, runs less than a kilometre east-west; to the north stand eight evenly spaced massive multi-storied glass and concrete cubes, the manufacturing hubs of Montreal’s historic fashion industry. To the south, mid-rise mixed-use storefronts open onto the street, behind which dense suburbs sprawl. The district can be walked in less than ten minutes.
However, the effects of globalization—and the resultant shift towards international manufacturing—can be felt in the changing urban fabric, with garment stores, cafes, convenience stores, restaurants, and banks. Today the area is home to over 2,000 companies with tens of thousands of employees. And of course, a new bike lane.
Earlier this month, CTV News produced a breathless article reporting on the local uproar around the bike lane’s addition to the streetscape. Alongside interviews with cantankerous local business owners, the article uncritically recites the bullet points of a write-up by Société de developpement commercial District Central, a non-profit association of businesses in Ahuntsic-Cartierville that commissioned a survey of local businesses. The survey found almost 90 per cent of local businesses self-reported “difficulty accessing their facilities.” It also found 66 per cent believe their company is less competitive due to the path’s addition. 90 per cent of business owners in the area also reported they were not properly consulted on the case.
This is especially apparent when one takes into account sampling bias. The survey’s vast majority loses rhetorical power once placed in the context of its meagre 16 per cent turnout, representing only 170 businesses out of the 1,048 surveyed. Assessing the study’s measurands through a series of opinion questions about a piece of infrastructure yet to see a single winter can hardly be considered reputable data on the issue.
A study that finds that an overwhelming 90 per cent of a given population shares alignment on niche local planning issues boasts a consensus enviable for even the world’s most sycophantic regimes. But especially considering Montreal’s diverse mix of business class apparently reflected in the results, it casts doubts as to the legitimacy of the sampling process. Regardless of whatever statistical findings it produces, a business lobbying group essentially surveying itself about a contentious new infrastructure addition is not expected to find anything but the result that best serves its own economic interests.
When considering the uproar, one may be reasonably deceived into believing the bike lane moves through rue Chabanel—the area that would typically be considered the Garment District. Far to the contrary, the path runs next to said Garment District: North-south down rue Meilleur before cutting one block over to continue down av. du Parc. One must walk the entire length of the Garment District just to glimpse the modest bike path, two thin strips bordered by green bollards on either side of the road. A single BIXI station sits on an otherwise wide sidewalk. After getting a sense for this supposedly problematic section of road, the criticisms around it begin to seem more disingenuous.
A 2024 McGill study found bikes are underserved by allotted road space compared to their share of trips by 212 per cent. This outrage has little to do with genuine harm to local businesses; rather, it demonstrates how narratives of personal inconvenience and burdensome bureaucracy are mobilized to oppose even modest urban improvements.
For those who may be interested, the Garment District is relatively easy to get to, even in spite of the STM strike. All one needs to do is grab a BIXI and ride it north. The bike paths are pretty much uninterrupted all the way up, and it’s a decently pleasant ride.
