OUTLAW BIKERS
Éric Thibodeau, left, and Mario Grenier ride an access ramp to the Jacques Cartier Bridge bike path, which is closed for the winter. As Montreal hosts a conference on winter cycling, cyclists have to break the law to get there from the South Shore.
Every day, a small but dedicated group of activists has been taking pictures and videos showing their open defiance of the law.
They’ve been stopped several times by authorities, but continue their civil disobedience campaign undeterred.
Their offence? Cycling to work on the bicycle path of the Jacques Cartier Bridge, which is officially closed for winter.
In recent weeks, the group called Collectif Transport Rive Sud has protested at the bridge, and even took shovels there to stage their own guerrilla snow clearing of the path. Some have also posted pictures of their tickets, issued by police who spotted them hopping over the short gate near the Longueuil side of the bridge.
It’s no easy feat: cyclists intent on crossing the bridge have to take the path and get off at JeanDrapeau Park, since the path further west is blocked by a wooden door, and locked, as it stands under the scaffolding used by crews who are working on the bridge-lighting project. Cyclists have to ride through Île-Ste-Hélène to get to the De La Concorde Bridge that links to Montreal.
Éric Thibodeau is a member of the group. He said for years he and fellow cyclists have been asking the federal corporation in charge of the bridge nicely. This year, they are taking matters into their own hands to show how safe it is to cycle the bridge, even when the path is covered in snow.
Thibodeau, who lives in Boucherville, crosses the bridge year round to get to work in Old Montreal — at the risk of getting a ticket and fine. The father of two says he does it to incorporate physical activity into his busy routine.
“I find it ridiculous that we can’t use this path during the winter,” Thibodeau said.
Montreal is billing itself as a world leader for winter cycling, as it gears up to host the prestigious 2017 Winter Cycling Congress on Wednesday. While the city has made strides in recent years to improve the state of its bike network during the winter, it is far from a world leader, activists say.
“I wouldn’t say we are yet among the leaders, but I’d say we’re learning,” said Marc Jolicoeur, the director of research at the cycling lobby group Vélo Québec.
Jolicoeur said the city falls behind some cities that hosted the conference in years past, such as Oulu, Finland, and Minneapolis, Minn.
He said the city’s most travelled paths are routinely cleared such as the ones on de Maisonneuve Blvd. and Rachel St., and others where there is a physical separation, like a concrete barrier, separating cars from bikes.
But on streets like St-Urbain St., or Bellechasse Ave., painted reserved bike lanes are routinely covered in snow by plows clearing in between storms — forcing cyclists into the middle of the street.
“In Montreal, it’s pretty good when there’s a snowstorm,” Jolicoeur said. “We’re equipped for the most extreme conditions, but after that, we don’t do a good job. That’s where it gets to be problematic for pedestrians and cyclists.”
Jolicoeur said it would pay off for the city to improve its snow clearing for cycling paths, because that would also help pedestrians.
“The problem is the same on bike paths and sidewalks, because when a plow passes on them, it leaves a small layer of snow,” Jolicoeur said. “That’s fine for roads, because the tires of cars generate heat, so they can melt the residual snow. Cyclists and pedestrians are not able to melt that last bit of snow, so it often just turns to ice.”
To help, Jolicoeur’s group has suggested the city use brine — a liquid saltwater mixture — instead of salt crystals, because it gives a more uniform coverage, with less salt used overall. Jolicoeur said the city should follow the lead of other cities that use trucks specifically for bike paths, equipped with rotating brushes, which don’t leave a residual layer of snow and ice.
Some boroughs have started to experiment with different equipment, said Marc-André Gadoury, the city’s point man on cycling.
The De Maisonneuve bike path downtown, for example, is being cleared this year using a truck with rotating brushes.
The Rosemont — Petite-Patrie borough is experimenting with brine in select areas, and just before winter started, the city began a pilot project to have a bike boulevard on St-André and Mentana Sts.
Those streets now give priority to bikes, allowing them to cycle in the middle of the road.
Cars are told to turn to another street if they want to drive faster than 20 kilometres per hour.
Gadoury said snow clearing on main paths has improved in recent years, and that has brought out more cyclists who were otherwise concerned about slipping on ice and snow. The city estimates roughly 10 per cent of summer cyclists continue through the winter months, which amounts to about 53,000 people. “I’m calling on all (summer) cyclists to keep their bikes out for the whole winter,” Gadoury said.
“You don’t need a special bike on most days to go on the city’s bike paths.”
Gadoury admitted, however, that there are breakdowns in the system, and he’d like to see an improvement on clearing bicycle lanes. He’s also like the city to communicate with cyclists, so they can have real time information about the state of the paths.
Activists say while there is work to do in the city of Montreal, it’s critical to find a way to get South Shore riders onto the island after the first snowfall.
The federal authority that manages the Jacques Cartier Bridge said it’s unsafe to keep the cycling path open year-round. At least for now.
The Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Inc. commissioned a report published last year highlighting the technical hurdles to opening the path on the bridge over the winter. Among them: the path is narrow, making it difficult to have machinery like plows on at the same time as bikes. The path is also on the concrete roadbed, so using salt isn’t an option, because it would affect the integrity of the bridge’s structure.
“We know there are some expert cyclists out there that want access, but if we open, we want it to be open for everyone,” said Julie Paquet, a spokesperson for the bridge corporation.
“We know that opening in current conditions, it’s not safe for us to open to all cyclists.”
She said the bridge authority hopes to find a solution to stay open year-round, but she could not say when or if that will happen.
Until it does, Thibodeau and his group say they will continue to flout the law.
I wouldn’t say we are yet among the leaders, but I’d say we’re learning.