April 3, 2007 (Montreal, QC) – The City of Montreal may soon announce that bike paths there will be kept open all year long, according to La Presse. Bike paths in Montreal officially opened on April 1, 2007 after being closed since November 15, 2006. Piles of snow persist on some paths, a reminder of how the city does not clear snow from bike paths as well as it does from roads and sidewalks.

Mayor Gerald Tremblay has been criticized for not doing enough to promote bicycling. Since he was first elected in 2001, the city only added some 40 kms to its bike path network that now totals 380 kms. City workers have been evident in recent days cleaning debris off the paths and putting up no parking signs. Darren Becker, who is responsible for communications from the city’s executive committee, confirmed to La Presse that “a global vision for bicycles” will play a big role in the collective transportation plan, expected to be unveiled soon.

Velo Quebec, which functions as a bicycle lobby group among other things, successfully pressured the city to open bike paths on April 1 instead of April 15 and has also been calling for paths to be open all year.

Another informal group of cycling advocates organized “The Montreal bike path shovel-in” party on February 25 this year beside Parc Lafontaine. Spokesperson Fanny Dulude told Pedal, “It was a beautiful day and about 35 cyclists showed up. We cleared a bike path with shovels; then a man with a bulldozer joined us and cleared all of the snow off the path for us. Afterwards we went for a bike ride for about half-an-hour. It was very festive, we had music playing, and everyone was smiling.”

Dulude’s group, inspired by both Critical Mass and by Le Monde a Bicyclette, is yet unnamed. For more information visit www.die-in-mtl.org/index_e.php