4 Sept The Jewel in the Crown

 

 During this Covid summer of 2020, the Montreal region has experimented with a large number pedestrian only streets, social distancing corridors, and new bike paths.  By keeping a record of our rides, the Montreal Bicycle Club has kept photographs of these changes to the face of the city.  Some of these new urban paths like Christophe Colomb offer a bold new street design that provide a significant upgrade to the overall bicycle transport network and were built as a result of Covid.

 Others, such as La Seigneurie des Plaines path give the region  Eco-friendly tourism options which are well connected to the EXO train system, eliminating the need to drive to the country in order to cycle.  Its construction began before the Covid crisis and the opening was actually delayed as result.

 This overall network of bicycle paths in and around Montreal, is a work in progress. The dream of the Montreal Bicycle Club is a network of paths such that anyone can safely cycle anywhere in the region. We celebrate every time a new component is added to the "Crown". 

    The Covid crisis, which has reduced travel generally, hit public transit hard, produced a boom in demand for bicycles and may also bring a increase in car use.  If this happens there will be even more competition for public space between bike lanes and private car parking.  The result of this competition will have tremendous consequences for climate change, road safety and overall livability of our cities.  With this concern in our minds the club joined in a demonstration against the closure of Terrebonne Bicycle Path in NDG.

   As usual, the members met at the Shaika Cafe in NDG and planned out a route for the Fixture ride.  

We would head up to Terrebonne Ave, then ride west to Lachine, returning along the St Lawrence river.  This would bring us back to Terrebonne Ave in time for the demonstration.  Along the way we would see the progress in the construction of Montreal's bicycle network "Crown" and think of what could be the "Jewel" within it.

Wanting to avoid cycling on the dangerous Girouard-Sherbrooke intersection we headed North along Marcil.  No bike path, but is is a generally a quiet street.

We then rode along the threatened new Terrebonne Bike path.  It has two unidirectional paths on either side of the street. This arrangement is the safer than the bidirectional paths found on most Montreal streets. It also removes parking from both sides of the street.

 Although Terrebonne Ave in thought of as a quiet street, Dorothy Cole pointed out a memorial to a fatal collision between car and pedestrian along it.

 Like many new bicycle paths,  Terrebonne only connects to other paths in the network at one end, the eastern side at Girouard.  Traveling westwards the protected path ends and it becomes a faded painted road symbol. Hence Terrebonne has a small initial number of cyclists.

Ultimately the path should feed into to the main East-West Artery in Montreal, Sherbrooke Street.  We used this "Jewel in the Crown" to continue to Montreal West en route to Lachine.

Which leads to another Cycling Path Gap, between Ville St Pierre and the Victoria Street bike path.

We continued out to the end of the Victoria street path until it connects to the lake shore path in Lachine.

Returning back along the river, we made the obligatory photo stop for the cycling ghosts of the past at the Fleming Windmill.

 Then, some bridges, surfers and geese.

Then along Verdun Ave which seems to handle a new bike path with little controversy.

Getting into a spirit of "lets try another route", we checked out cycling through the Atwater Tunnel.

The tunnel leads to another major hole in the crown, the connection between Downtown / Westmount and Atwater Market.

Entering Westmount we rode along streets with "Crown" improvement potential such as Dorchester. 

Arriving at the demonstration early, waited while a crowd of familiar faces gathered.

Then there were some TV interviews...

 

 

Some chatting with sympathetic  onlookers...

 

 

As NDG remains and under served area for bicycle paths, the expected closing of the Terrebonne Ave path upset many in the group.
 

After the speeches, the cyclists mounted their steeds for a parade down Terrebonne Ave before it is removed.

 

 

Returning home from NDG I again rode along the Jewel in the Crown.  With this latest news the hope of ever seeing it ever as a "Jewel" seems diminished.

 

 That evening, the colors at sunset were marvelous.