Julie Labelle-Patenaude stood before Montreal city council this week and, in a sober but firm tone, read the names — or any known identifying details — of 11 cyclists and pedestrians killed on Parc Ave. since 2013.
The list did not include 19 others who have been seriously injured, she noted. Her voice nearly faltered once: when naming an 11-year-old boy struck dead.
“These are human beings,” Labelle-Patenaude later said when asked why she pressed the city on the issue. “It’s for them and for future generations.”
Labelle-Patenaude, who lives nearby and has advocated for changes to Parc Ave., addressed the council a week after a coroner’s report concluded the street’s dangerous configuration contributed to a cyclist’s death last year.
Amanda Augustsson, 31, died last September after suffering acute head trauma when she struck a parked vehicle and fell while trying to avoid a heavy truck driving behind her.
Coroner Marie-Claude Boutin found the incident occurred as Augustsson was travelling in a “dense urban environment devoid of dedicated cycling infrastructure,” forcing her to continuously adjust her path to avoid parked cars on one side and moving cars on the other.
Boutin recommended the city review Parc Ave.’s configuration to “formalize a continuous and safe bike path” and suggested it take measures to moderate traffic on the street.
Advocates have long argued Parc Ave. has grown too dangerous, with pedestrians and cyclists squeezed between heavy traffic and chaotic intersections.
A ghost bike is pictured on Parc Ave. near the intersection of St-Viateur St. in Montreal on Tuesday, May 12, 2026. John Mahoney / Montreal Gazette
Residents staged a “die-in” following Augustsson’s death, lying on the ground beside their bikes to demand new safety measures. The issue carried into last fall’s municipal election, with Projet Montréal promising a reserved bus lane, widened sidewalks and lower speed limits.
In an interview this week, Magali Bebronne, director of programs at Vélo Québec, said Parc Ave. is widely considered one of Montreal’s most dangerous streets and changes are long overdue.
Lined with grocery stores, places of worship, a community centre and municipal library, it serves as a neighbourhood hub for both Outremont and Mile-End residents, she said, yet doubles as a busy traffic thoroughfare.
She hopes the city will act on the coroner’s recommendations.
“It will require compromises, but we are a city that adheres to Vision Zero — zero deaths and serious injuries — and one of the first things that vision states is that safety must take precedence over traffic flow,” Bebronne said.
“Human errors will continue to happen. But in a calmer environment, the same human error might only result in a minor injury — not a serious injury or a death,” she added.
At Monday’s council meeting, Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada told Labelle-Patenaude she was moved by her intervention and vowed to look into the matter.
The mayor warned there is no simple fix but said she will work with local elected officials, pedestrian-safety advocates and cycling groups to find a solution.
“We are all very sensitive to the fact that a street like Parc Ave. has claimed the lives of so many people,” the mayor said. “It’s a major thoroughfare in the city, and we need to ensure the traffic flow provides safety for all cyclists, pedestrians, motorists and everyone else.”
Ulysse Mourot-Pelade rides a Bixi down Parc Ave. in Montreal on Tuesday, May 12, 2026. John Mahoney / Montreal Gazette
Labelle-Patenaude said she believes the mayor was sincere but had hoped for a more concrete commitment on the next steps.
She fears the street’s commercial nature will make the city reluctant to add a protected bike lane, pointing to the pushback received over similar projects on St-Denis St. and Querbes Ave.
Before leaving the council chamber, she handed council a document cataloguing the 11 deaths on the street.
“I’d like you to take the time to read through this,” she said. “And, above all, please take a close look at the faces in the photos.”
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