Fête du vélo organizers want to see more cycling paths in Sherbrooke
The third edition of the annual Fête du vélo takes place Oct. 4 at the covered dance floor of the Jacques-cartier Park featuring a bike maintenance workshop, lunch with live music, a family bike tour and a discussion about society’s dependancy on cars in the afternoon.
Anabel Cossette Civitella, one of the event’s organizers, said the festival is slightly different this year because of the ongoing pandemic, but they still managed to pack a full day of activities into the schedule.
The workshop is first on the list at 11 a.m., where technicians will teach Sherbrooke residents how to maintain their bikes throughout the year, from greasing a bike chain to properly changing a screw on the frame.
But, according to Civitella, the event is mainly a platform to talk about the changing environment, going green and how bicycles are a healthy and environmentally-friendly alternative to using a car every day.
“We’re not saying a bike should replace a car completely, but a lot of the time we could use a bike instead of a car and that’s the message we’re trying to send out,” she said.
Sherbrooke is not very cyclistoriented, Civitella added, there are bike paths available to residents, but they are mostly tourist paths, rather than effective routes for people going to work or school.
She said that the city needs to consider completing its bike paths around the city in order to make it safe for cyclists who bike every day. The biggest challenge for city officials, Civitella continued, is to make Galt, King and University streets more biker friendly.
“When I moved to Sherbrooke I found it strange that I needed to push for more bike safety. I also thought Sherbrooke was more green and advanced in that regard, but I don’t know why it’s difficult to advance these initiatives,” said Civitella.
She told The Record that she isn’t trying to bash city officials over their failed cyclist projects, like the temporary lanes they created this summer. Those lanes were taken down soon after receiving complaints from pedestrians.
Civitella believes Sherbrooke’s leaders need to do better by creating a safer environment for cyclists. She also appreciated the temporary lanes set up on Bowen, Galt and University streets this summer. They were taken down too quickly and without consultation, she said.
Before altering the event, Civitella and the entire Fête du vélo team called on city officials to take part in a more politically driven bike tour through streets and areas in need of bike paths, including the streets used in the temporary lanes project.
However, there were complications with the routes chosen for the rally.
Civitella was told that it would be too dangerous for so many people to bike in a group. Also, after a period of reflection, Fête du vélo organizers decided it wasn’t an appropriate setting for a protest.
“We decided to cancel that political bike tour this year and maybe do it again, but not associated with the Fête du vélo,” Civitella said, adding that they want to celebrate alternative transportation on Oct.4, not cause a commotion.