Sizing up winter conditions on Montreal's bike paths

MontrealGazette.com
Feb. 23, 2016
Jason Magder

Maybe it’s more dangerous to walk than bike during the winter.

The Montreal Gazette surveyed bicycle paths last Wednesday, to test snow clearing hours after a snow and ice storm.

The result: many bike paths were in better shape than the adjacent sidewalks, and many pedestrians were seen venturing onto the paths because they were less icy.

While it was difficult to walk on slippery sidewalks in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, the bicycle path on de Maisonneuve Blvd. had been plowed in both N.D.G. and Westmount. The path was in good shape heading downtown, but there was a crusty layer of ice and snow east of Atwater Ave. that made it very difficult for cyclists. Many opted to ride on the street between Atwater and Guy St.

Because it is separated by a concrete barrier, the de Maisonneuve path is easier for crews to maintain because cars can’t splash snow or slush onto it. Other bike paths separated from traffic, on Robert-Bourassa Blvd./University St., and Rachel St., were also in good shape last Wednesday morning.

But there were a few trouble spots.

Bartek Komorowski, an urban planner with Vélo Québec, pointed out a layer of ice on the dedicated path that was part of an underpass on St-Laurent Blvd., at the corner of Bellechasse Ave.

“Here, it looks like the bike path was done before the sidewalk,” Komorowski said. “When they plow the sidewalk, the snow all goes into the bike path, and then freezes over.”

Komorowski said it’s pivotal that underpasses be ice-free because there are very few places where cyclists can go under the tracks, so they serve as funnels for much of the bicycle traffic.

The underpass at Christophe-Colombe Ave. was in better shape.

Komorowski, who advises cities about bicycle infrastructure, said dedicated paths have generally been well maintained this winter. But crews have problems maintaining bike paths that are painted lanes between traffic and parked cars. That was evident on St-Urbain St., were crews had plowed snow into several mountainous banks near the corner of des Pins Ave.

Komorowski said those types of bike path lanes are in the worst shape. Plows push snow against the parked cars, which then push the snow back onto the bike lanes when they drive off.

Vélo Québec has been pushing the city to build more bike paths with physical barriers, saying they are the gold standard, and the best way to bring out new cyclists, who are reluctant because they feel it’s unsafe. They’re also the easiest to keep clear in winter.

Marc-André Gadoury, the city’s point-man for cycling matters, said he’s happy with the work by blue-collar crews so far, but admitted the city is still learning the best ways to maintain the bike network in winter.

“We have sent quite a few notes to city crews, and I think they are becoming much more aware that these lanes are not depots for snow,” Gadoury said.