Montreal to add 200 km of protected bike paths in next 5 years
Mayor Valérie Plante made promise to make cycling safer
Cycling in Montreal will be safer and easier in the coming years, says Mayor Valérie Plante. On Tuesday, Plante unveiled a plan to add 200 km of protected bike paths by 2027.
According to a Montreal Gazette report, the Réseau express vélo (REV) is finished or underway in the downtown core. The next phase will extend to other areas that are insufficient in cycling infrastructure.
Marianne Giguère, the associate councillor on the executive committee for cycling measures, said the plan is to add 40 km of bike paths per year. When asked if that is a slow pace for adding lanes, she said there’s a reason for that. It’s not simply adding paint to a road. Instead, she said, there will be separated bike lanes, which are far superior.
“It’s not safe, it’s not comfortable, and not as safe as a separate bike lane,” Giguère said. “We want to have separated bike paths, away from traffic. So there will be slightly fewer kilometers than promised in the past, but they will be a huge gain.”
The plan also includes adding 10 more axes, to the REV, and adding 60 km and to make or add on to existing routes. The plan will be in 17 of the 19 boroughs of Montreal.
Montreal was recently ranked the best major city for cycling in North America, and Jumbo-Visma rider Wout van Aert was certainly a fan, praising the bike paths.
“We work with the future in mind and the future we want in Montreal is a safe future for everyone,” Sophie Mauzerolle, the city’s executive committee member in charge of mobility and transportation said. “Bike paths in Montreal have been used more than ever in the last few years. In the last year, the number of bike trips has increased by 20 per cent in Montreal. In the last year alone, that’s 12 million bike trips.”
