Bike network must be safe, reliable

Re: “City coasting on its bike-friendly reputation” (Allison Hanes, June 15)

Coming back to Montreal is always a pleasure, but Allison Hanes’s analysis of the city’s bike-complacency is spot on.

Closing the only protected bike path downtown — along de Maisonneuve Blvd. — because of a Grand Prix street party and unceremoniously dumping cyclists (myself included) onto busy major streets is not something a true “cycling city” would do.

As a professional transportation planner, I understand the challenges of limited people-moving space downtown. It’s uncontested in my field that a three-metre lane of cyclists, pedestrians or transit moves more people than one of cars.

But if people can’t rely on a transportation mode, they won’t use it.

A reliable cycling network is one with multiple safe route choices to and from anywhere in the city and the reasonable expectation that your travel time will be relatively predictable. An unexpected lane closure and detour shouldn’t double your trip or require cycling in traffic on busy streets.

Such a network is most crucial downtown, yet every visit I am again shocked by the lack of bike lanes where they are needed most.

Temporary replacement lanes should be mandated during any planned street closure. Montreal occasionally gets this right, but cycling infrastructure is not treated like other modes. Imagine the public outcry if the métro Green Line, on the same stretch of de Maisonneuve, randomly shut down for days. Emily Thomason, Richmond, Va.