St. Laurent sidewalks seem to be too narrow for bicycles and pedestrian to coexist. (Photo: Martin Alarie)
A new world for cyclists
In St. Laurent, the wheels are turning. Between the new transit plan for Montreal and safety and prevention campaigns being run by the neighbourhood police station, the cyclist is king. But with new infrastructures in place, shouldn't the level of service be mutual from the motorists' end as well? Here in St. Laurent, a large number of new projects are encouraging commuters to use other pedals besides the one marked 'gas' on the floor of your car.
Project Montreal party leader Richard Bergeron, who said last week during the STM transit strike that "doing two kilometres, either by bike or on foot, when we're in good health, is not difficult." And he's not far off. St. Laurent residents recently discovered as much during the week-long strike which shut bus and metro service down for the majority of days last week.
What wasn't as bad were the invitations to cyclists to make themselves more and more numerous on the rush-hour roads. Montreal's transit plan, presented two weeks ago, calls for double the amount of bicycle paths that currently crisscross the city. From early projections, St. Laurent should see its share of complementary bike paths, but nothing is set in stone until after public consultations.
From the city's side, it's a simple matter: they're trying to encourage cyclists to put down the car keys and pick up a helmet.
"We'd already prepared a master plan for bike paths in St. Laurent," said borough mayor Alan DeSousa. "Before we put it into action, we wanted to be assured what we had planned fit in with what the city proposed two weeks ago. The next job we have to do is to balance our plan with theirs in order to get a global coherence. For instance, we have to focus on our inter-borough links so that our residents can visit their neighbours without having to come home in a traffic jam," he said.
Going to bed without dessert?
Of course, not everything is going cyclists' way in St. Laurent. For the third year in a row, no Féria du vélo activities will be held in St. Laurent. No Féria du vélo? No problem. Businesses are doing their part to pitch in as well. This summer will see the inception of the AccesVelo program, which encourages commuters to use their bicycles to get to work. In St. Laurent, no fewer than four sites will allow commuters to borrow 16 bikes in order to take advantage of the nice weather.
The borough is not taking accident prevention lightly either. Before anyone gets on a bicycle, they should know the basic safety rules and regulations that go with operating one. Montreal police Stations 6 and 7 are currently undergoing a massive awareness campaign to help St. Laurent residents stay on the right side of the law – and of health – when riding. Police officers will be distributing booklets and safety cards at busy intersections over the next few weeks.
The operation will be completed by visits from St. Laurent PDQ’s agents in local schools. After stopping at Alex Manoogian school at the end of May, the agents will teach the ABC of safety to the little ones at Morand-Nantel and Edouard-Laurin schools, on June 12 and 14.
Looks like bicycle use is on the right track!
(Translated by Marc Lalonde)
par Sylvain Sarrazin 
Steven Guilbeault - 
