Rianna Ostrosser – Editor-In-Chief

Sherbrooke’s plan to build a bike path along Queen Street in Lennoxville has sparked alarm among local shop owners, who say the project could leave them without enough parking to survive.

Photo courtesy of Elysia Christodoulopoulos

Haley Harrison, owner of Boutique Rustic Roots, said she supports cycling infrastructure but worries about the city’s choice of location.

“I’m not anti-bike path in any way, shape or form. Can we just leave the main street alone so that we can keep our businesses happy?” she said. “It’s been my dream my whole life to own a store in Lennoxville, and literally a bike path will take it away.”

Boutique Rustic Roots hosts 44 local artisans who rent kiosks and shelves to sell handmade goods. Harrison said many of her customers rely on the few street parking spots available nearby. Even now, those spaces are often occupied all day by employees of other businesses, leaving little room for shoppers.

“We have four parking spaces for five businesses. And when employees are parking there, it’s almost impossible for customers to get in,” she explained.

Harrison believes the city has underestimated how much Lennoxville’s small businesses depend on convenient

parking, particularly during the slow winter months. “January, February, March is so slow [for businesses], it’s ridiculous already. If you take away parking during our busiest months, how are we supposed to survive?”

She cited the recent closure of another local shop, which she said was partly due to lack of parking, as an example of what could follow if the bike path goes ahead.

Opponents of the project have suggested rerouting the path through Centennial Park, where public washrooms and green space already make it a natural fit for cyclists.

“As someone who doesn’t even bike, if I did, I’d much rather go that way than down Queen Street,” Harrison added.

Harrison and other business owners say they left recent public consultations feeling unheard. At one meeting, Harrison delivered a two-minute plea to councillors, but received no response.

“There was nothing said. It felt like we weren’t being listened to,” she recalled.

She also criticized the timing of the city’s parking survey, which was conducted in December after Bishop’s University students had left for the holidays and at 6:15 p.m., when most businesses were closed.

While Harrison acknowledged that students and seniors form the core of her clientele, she argued that removing parking would drive older shoppers away.

“In February, you can’t expect my 80-year-old mother to park at Maxi, take her walker, and walk through the snow [for] 15 minutes to buy a birthday gift,” she said.

A petition opposing the bike path is now being organized by local business owners.

Harrison said she hopes Sherbrooke will reconsider the plan. “It’s not that we’re against bikes. We just need a solution that doesn’t come at the cost of small businesses.”