Montreal cycle tracks
September 7, 2009
The current issue of Price Tags gives New York much-justified praise for the installation of cycle tracks (fully separated bike paths) on some of its major avenues.
But as Adriana McMullen of Victoria points out, Montreal has had ‘em for years.
Montreal seems to be often overlooked in North America, despite being an apparent leader on the cycling infrastructure side of the equation.
Of all of it, it is the separated bi-directional bike lanes that catch my eye the most - the “pistes cyclables”, as they are called in Montreal.Let’s face it, as much as space and painted lines are a nice separation, a physical barrier/curb which could prevent a car from sliding into, parking, driving in the bike lane is obviously the next step in urban commuter cycling infrastructure, signaling genuine commitment. Montreal represents a fabulous learning opportunity and at the very least some share of the spotlight.
some of these physical barriers produce a segregation effect, and make it bloody dangerous for cyclists and make it next to impossible for motorists to make a safe left turn.
the other thing is, city spends money on clearing the snow in the path during the winter, but the surface rarely gets to be as clean as it is in the street, where the cars and trucks chew up and press out all the ice, slush and snow.