Drivers say parking in Montreal is difficult. Experts say it should be

Standing in front of empty storefronts, Denis Coderre was clear about what needed to be done with the Bellechasse Street bike path.

The Ensemble Montréal mayoral candidate said he would repeal a part of the path running along the major artery in the borough of Rosemont-La-Petite-Patrie.

The reason? To revive about 800 parking spaces that were removed when the path was first put in place by Valerie Plante's Projet Montréal administration.

"It takes fluidity, assuring that bikes can still pass," he said at a campaign stop in mid-September. "We are capable of living together. We are not anti-bike, we are pro-mobility."

The clash between parking and other street uses, such as bike paths, is not unique to Bellechasse Street. 

Across the city, businesses and residents say finding on-street parking is already a challenge, and that measures like pedestrian-only streets and bike paths only exacerbate the problem.

In Côte-Des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-De-Grâce, a bike path on Terrebonne Street was loudly contested by residents who lost their parking. After weeks of back-and-forth, the borough ultimately repealed the project. 

However, many Montrealers are keen to restrict car use in the city. Nearly half of Montreal residents — 48 per cent — are in favour of limiting cars to one per household, according to a recent CROP poll. 

That same poll found that 60 per cent of Montrealers were in favour of greatly restricting cars that use fossil fuels from entering the downtown core.

How much parking is there in the city, and do Montrealers really need more? 

According to the city of Montreal, there are somewhere between 475,000 and 515,000 on-street parking spaces across all boroughs. 

Of them, only 17,367 of them are metered. Another four per cent are reserved for residential permit holders.

Experts say how elected officials deal with parking policy shapes a city's streets — and has a ripple effect on all other forms of transportation.

Experts say there is one way to make parking more convenient for drivers, while also encouraging Montrealers to take greener forms of transit. (Warning: it may not be popular.)