I can safely say that I know a thing or two about bikes, bikers, and bike paths. With that in mind, I personally feel that the idea of constructing bike paths is very important, but in moderation. When it comes to bike paths, it’s not quantity, but rather quality thats matter most.

I dislike the current bike path on de Maisonneuve because I feel that it was not constructed properly. While it may be good to have a bike path on this road, it is unnecessary to have a huge concrete divider between the street and the path. This is simply a waste of resources. A simple fence along the path would have been infinitely more practical, and it would have had the dual purpose of dissuading pedestrians from crossing the street and the path.

As it stands now, pedestrians are constantly walking across the path, or they perch themselves perilously on the concrete divider, putting their lives in denger from being so close to oncoming traffic (both cars and cyclists).

As with most things in Montreal, the idea starts out with good intention, but somewhere along the line, people  (politicians) get overly zealous and overdo it. A clear example of this is when Mayor Tremblay set a goal of adding hundreds of kilometers of new bike paths in Montreal.

On the surface, this looks like a reasonably good idea, but in practice, it is becoming clear that it is being executed in a dramatically wrong process.

Many of the new “bike paths” are simply stripes painted on otherwise busy streets designating a certain portion of the road for cyclists. This serves to give the cyclists a false sense of security, and actually makes driving a vehiclue on the road confusing and dangerous.

When cars have to park, they are still allowed to cross onto the “faux bike path.” The same goes for when buses have to pull over, when pedestrians have to cross the street or when cars have to turn the corner. It is far too easy to ignore the painted stripe on the road.

Montreal, if you want to build a bike path, you must do so properly. A crappy bike path does more damage than good, and actually endangers the lives of the cyclists who use it.