Montreal cycling groups say the city is all talk and no action when it comes to improving cycling in the city and are calling on candidates in the municipal election to make safer roads and bike paths a priority.
Ghost Bikes Montreal, a group representing Montreal cyclists, says the Coderre administration needs to take cycling more seriously.
“They’ve been promising things and then re-promise them, maybe expecting that we’ve forgotten,” said spokesperson Gabrielle Anctil.
The group has installed six ‘ghost bikes’ since 2013 as a tribute to road cyclists who lost their lives on Montreal streets. The bikes are painted white and are installed close to where the cyclist died.
So far three cyclists have died on Montreal roads in 2017.
The group wants to see the city’s existing bike paths repaired and new, safer paths installed, especially on busy thoroughfares. They’re also calling for more bike boxes – painted buffer zones at intersections – meant to keep cyclists safe.
“I can think easily of so many lives they could have saved,” Anctil said. “They are simple, they are just paint on the ground.”
Also on the group’s list of demands is to prioritize cycling networks in low-income neighbourhoods.
Last month the city invested $150 million into cycling and says its goal is to have 15 per cent of trips be completed on a bike by 2032. Currently only 4 per cent of trips in Montreal are completed by bike.
The group is hopeful improvements will come sooner in order to prevent more cycling deaths in the future.
