Biking Montreal: Montreal's Newest Bicycling Infrastructure Dazzles!
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- Опубліковано 7 вер 2021
- THIS IS THE 1,000TH STREETFILM OF ALL-TIME!
I was preparing to plan a visit Montreal (and also Paris!) just as Covid-19 halted plans last year. But one benefit of that delay is that my visit last month allowed me to see some of the newest Montreal protected bike lanes in full effect. And it is impressive.
The REV (the Réseau Express Vélo) is the newest one of those which is designed to be the spine of the new network. It and a batch of newer lanes mark a departure from Montreal's bike building of the past: now one-way lanes on either side of the street are the emphasis going forward with 2-way dual lanes on one side of the street, some of which are too narrow, are now used less often.
Most extraordinary is the width some of the new bike infrastructure. You will see the REV for which about half of its length and it is sooooo wide I was laughing. Sometimes cyclists are dwarfed by the lane, which is a good thing. At one point I saw a family ride by three-abreast and someone STILL could pass!
Check it out. Really!
Good to see Canda is catching up. But once you start biking there's no way back! No idea how I ended up here, but greetings from the Netherlands.
I am from the Netherlands (as we are known for our top benchmark bicycle infrastructure) and I am impressed. This is all about, it is not only about a bike lane but about a new positive community that can ride everywhere anywhere in a comfortable and safe way.
I can vouch for this. Have lived in Montreal 50 years now; it's certainly the most bike-friendly city in North America (I travel alot, pre-covid at least)! Mayor Valérie Plante has done a fantastic job on this file.
We lived near St-Denis in Montreal and the REV was an enormous improvement to the street. It's nice to see the project getting more recognition. Congrats on 1,000!
As a spoiled Dutchie I see this and smile. This is a lvl that I would find acceptable and is going beyond that. There are parts (the newer parts) that are in no way less then we have. Great to see! Hope this continues and spreads! Also glad to see they did make some improvements for the busses.
Great job Montreal!! It comes down to public perception, education, and will. Here in So California any bike infrastructure is heavily criticized by lazy folks who only see the world through their selfish views…and they are usually the wealthy, powerful (wealthy😫), or annoyingly loud minority (wealthy 😡).
All they still have to do is give the bike path it’s own color for everyone to recognize instantaneously!
I heard of Valerie Plante when she came into power and immediately cancelled the Formula E race for the following year. Which is quite interesting because she knew back then that EVs in cities wasn’t the real solution, and cycling was. And that’s the reason that Formula E has no future (especially not in truly progressive cities) because they’ll be beyond the car, electric or otherwise.
Once there are more safe bike lanes installed, some entrepreneurs are going to discover that absence of cars in the immediate vicinity creates such a pleasant space that they’ll ask the city to remove more parking spaces. They see that they can thrive with just the pedestrian and bike traffic. That customers will flock there because of the lack of cars. Now that will properly annoy some dinosaurs.
What a great improvement. We need more politicians that actually improve peoples lives!
Love to see men, women and children all cycling together safely.
I live in The Netherlands, and the cycling infrastructure is probably second to none. It's fantastic to see what Montreal has done, especially in such a short space of time. Montreal ciizens should be rightly proud of everything the city planners have acheived. Long may it continue !
It still seems like such a radical idea in North America that a city's infrastructure should be built firstly for the people who live there and secondly for the people who are just driving through.
Thanks for this great portrait of our city, and our neighbourhood!
The REV is awesome. Montreal has to keep pushing great projects
Impressive! When this type of infrastructure is created it dramatically improves the quality of life. My city of Winnipeg is getting better but we have a long way to go. Bravo Montreal!
Brilliant Montreal! Well done!! 🚲
Biked in Montreal in around 99/2000 and thought it was great then. Would love to go back and explore again. Wonderful city.
Love this! I live in Montreal and can attest to its support of cycling.