Verdun Street merchants fighting mad over new bike lane

A line of black and orange punching bags hang from the ceiling of the Angry Monkey gym on Verdun Street, but owner Justin Etheridge is worried it's his bottom line that's about to take a beating.

"Our battle is not specifically against the bike path and cyclists, it's against the municipality and how they can just pull the carpet out under our feet," he said.

Over the weekend, 275 parking spots on the east side of the street disappeared to make room for a new dedicated bike lane.

The pilot project, which runs until November, is part of Verdun's plan to make the borough more bike-friendly.

But Etheridge said the bike lanes shouldn't come at the cost of customer parking.

He said many of his clients drive in from places like Chteauguay and Brossard, and already had a hard time finding a spot.

Now, with half of the on-street spaces gone, he fears they'll stay away entirely.

"In the gym business, the summer's already bad," he said. "It already takes a bit of a dip and this is an extra dip on top of that dip."

Etheridge and more than two dozen other merchants on the street are hitting back.

They have hired a lawyer and put the borough on notice they're prepared to take the battle to court to preserve their parking.

• Verdun cutting parking spots on major street in favour of bike path

The letter gives the city until June 10 to suspend the bike lane and restore the lost spaces, otherwise the merchants say they'll sue.

Borough says pilot project will continue

Borough Mayor Jean-Franois Parenteau said he's forwarded the group's letter to the city's legal department.

The merchants can expect a response in the coming days, but that response won't include scrapping the bike lane, he said.

"We know it's a big change," said Parenteau. "That's why we started with the pilot project because we know it has an impact."

Parenteau said Verdun has also changed a lot recently and more young families are moving to the borough. He said they want different transportation options.

The borough added more parking spaces on side streets to compensate for the lost parking spots, but has ruled out financial compensation to merchants, Parenteau said.

"Work with us," he said. "At the end of the summer we'll have a big meeting and discuss together if it was a good thing or not."

'It could kill us,' merchants say

But the merchants fear they may not be able to survive until fall if business takes a nosedive.

"It could kill us," said Jose Denis, who has cut hair at DJ Coiffeur salon for 30 years.

"We're not Wal-Mart, she said. "We're not a big enterprise."

Denis said the bike lane is another example of what she referred to as the neighbourhood's gentrification.

"It would probably bring in another crowd of people," she said. "Another type of people."

Denis said many of her clients are elderly, and aren't about to hop on a bike to get to their hair appointment.

She feels the borough is catering to newer residents at the expense of those who have been there for decades.

Cyclists say bike lanes will boost business

One of those new residents is Adam Neale and his family. They moved to Verdun 2.5 years ago from Longueuil to be closer to work.

On Sunday, the family tested out the new bike lane and went to check out the sidewalk sale on Wellington Street.

Neale said he understands merchants' fears about the bike lane hurting business, but said he thinks it will have the opposite effect.

"This is the perfect case where we're actually taking our bikes because it's easier than parking down on Wellington," he said.