While sustainable development is omnipresent in public discourse, it’s important that it’s not done at the expense of those who keep the local economy going. In District Central, Montreal’s fourth-largest employment hub, many manufacturing entrepreneurs located along a new bike path are at the end of their tether. While our businesses are demonstrating sustained growth and a remarkable capacity for innovation, they are coming up against decisions by the Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough that are holding back their momentum. Too often, their realities are ignored, and it’s time for things to change.

District Central is home to over 2,100 companies and 25,000 employees. This bustling district is a vital economic hub, rooted in proximity and looking to the future. During the pandemic, its manufacturers responded by producing essential goods, while maintaining a level of activity in excess of 70%. In 2024, the area reached its highest occupancy rate in eight years. This economic vitality should not be undermined, but rather recognized and supported.

And yet, today, these same economic players in District Central are having to deal with borough decisions imposed without consultation or planning. The hasty construction of a north-south bicycle path on strategic industrial arteries such as Chabanel, Port-Royal, Meilleur and Avenue du Parc is a case in point.

Since the fall of 2024, the implementation of this project has raised serious and legitimate concerns. We are facing alarming repercussions: lost business, disrupted deliveries, inconsistent signage and increased difficulties for employees and customers to access the area. This is no longer just an inconvenience; it’s hindering our economic vitality.

Some truck drivers, essential to our supply chain, no longer want to serve the area with 53-foot trailers. Manoeuvring has become too perilous, with bicycle lane posts forcing them to pull over again and again. Entrepreneurs are struggling to meet their contractual commitments due to the lack of parking for their corporate clients. The area has become a festival of horns and congestion.

The issues are many: in terms of safety, the cohabitation of cyclists, delivery trucks and motorists is becoming increasingly risky, particularly at central intersections such as Avenue du Parc and Crémazie, or even on Rue Meilleur, where reduced visibility and new signage create situations likely to lead to serious accidents. Accessibility is also affected, with businesses in the area seeing their operations disrupted by parking bans, poorly indicated detours and fragmented logistics, slowing deliveries and deterring customers.

Our ability to operate is being hampered by a development policy that’s insensitive to our reality. Worse still, these repeated obstacles send a worrying message: that this sector is becoming hostile territory for businesses. This compromises our competitiveness and the area’s attractiveness.

We are urban manufacturers, industrial merchants, employers, and long-time stakeholders in this territory. We’re not seeking preferential treatment. We simply ask for cohabitation that acknowledges its diverse uses. Unfortunately, coercive measures were put in place more quickly than mitigation solutions, without accounting for the area’s rate of transformation.

We’re not questioning the need to promote active mobility, but rather its blind application, out of touch with our reality. We refuse to be the collateral damage of hasty planning. District Central is not a residential area. It’s an industrial hub, an economic engine that needs fluid logistics and an urban framework designed for the diversity of its uses.

We affirm our commitment to building a green and resilient city. But for this transition to be realistic, it must be made with those who sustain the local economy. We demand that the borough of Ahuntsic-Cartierville show leadership and withdraw the bike path in its current form.

District Central cannot become a symbol of urban development that excludes the economy. It must remain a territory of opportunities, not obstacles.

Cosignatories:

• Gabriel Tupula, President of the Board of Directors of the SDC District Central & President & CEO of Big Bang
• Hélène Veilleux, Executive Director of the SDC District Central
• Philippe Gagnon, Vice-President of the Board of Directors of the SDC District Central & Vice-President of Canadian Operations at Attraction
• Laetitia Bedout, Treasurer-Secretary of the SDC District Central & Business Coach
• Delia De Gasperis, Administrator of the SDC District Central & Strategic Advisor at CGS Québec Inc.
• Eugénie Lévis, Administrator of SDC District Central & Executive Coordinator at Matelas Sélection
• Isabelle Prévost, Administrator of SDC District Central & President of Louvia Uniformes
• Howard Szalavetz, Administrator of SDC District Central & owner of Immeubles HS
• Célestine Véronneau, Administrator of SDC District Central & co-owner of Simplex Equipment Rentals
• Christine Amirian, Co-owner, Yves Martin Underwear
• Prosper Azoulay, Owner, PrintEx Canada
• Anne-Marie Barnard, General Manager, Centre d’art Battat
• Kimberly Battah, Co-owner, Les Modes Edwin Battah
• Eyal Cohen, Owner, Marcarko – 555 Midtown
• Carlo Granito, Owner, Terra Café et Thé Ltée
• Michael Grote, Owner, Entreprises Qualum International
• Yves Joannette, Owner, Port-Royal Service Centre
• Fares Kanou, Owner, Collections Oxygen
• Kris Wilk, President, Syndicat de la Copropriété de l’Étoile du Parc (8815 avenue du Parc)
• Greg Wise, Owner, Sailcap, Les Immeubles M. W.O.L.