521 km of cycle paths cleared of snow this winter in Montreal

Jocelyn Malette

Zechariah Goudreault

Wednesday, 13 December 2017 20:30

UPDATE
Wednesday, 13 December 2017 20:30

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Not less than 89 kilometres of additional bike lanes will be cleared of snow this winter in Montreal.

The new mayor, Valerie Plant, was often repeated during the election campaign that it would improve the life of cyclists in Montreal.

This winter, 521 kilometres of bike lanes will remain open in Montreal, 89 kilometers more than in the previous winter season.

At the meeting of the executive committee, on Wednesday morning, Ms. Plante asked for clarification on the snow removal of the bike lanes. According to it, all users of the road network have the right to safe, that they are in a car or on a bike.

All, however, is not perfect in the snow removal of bike paths.

According to the spokesperson of Bike ghost, Gabrielle Anctil, the boroughs do not all have the same priority for snow removal on bike trails.

“Note really a variation between each district […] cyclists on Our Lady can know when they are in another district because the bike path ceases to be plowed”, and he illustrated Ms. Anctil.

Projet Montréal did not, however, centralize the snow removal, which would solve a large part of the problems.

Lack of consistency

The spokesperson of the Coalition vélo de Montréal, Daniel Lambert, requests that the new municipal administration to take action to compel the borough to remove the snow from the bike trails four seasons on their territory.

“It is necessary that the city-centre to make an effort to ensure that all paths are cleared of snow. It must be in operating mode to have a snow removal consistent from one place to the other,” he says.

“False good idea”

The advisor associated with the executive committee responsible for sustainable development and active transportation, Marianne Giguère, has rejected the possibility that his administration unilaterally decides on the snow removal of bike paths.

“According to the experts it has consulted, it is a good idea because it would result in a decrease of the quality of the service”, she raised.