Similarly, as the last piles of snow disappear and the temperatures steadily rise above zero, the number of cyclists on the streets is increasing exponentially. Unfortunately, the city is not as quick to adjust to changing patterns, be they transportation or weather, so citizens will have to wait another two weeks for the city to open the bike paths.
It is difficult to comprehend why the start date for opening bike paths cannot fluctuate to better reflect the needs of the users. It would be interesting to see some statistics regarding accidents in this shoulder season when cyclists are faced with following their normal routes that often involve travelling the wrong way on one way streets where the bike lane exists for 8 months of the year (a choice I and most other cyclists make on Clark) or choosing other streets that might have elevated risks due to vehicle traffic such as St. Laurent or Avenue du Parc.
It would seem simple enough for the city to notify citizens through the media a few days in advance of the opening of the bike paths. It certainly isn't a question of installing the occasional poles along some of the paths since the city is placing fewer and fewer of them.
Perhaps the answer is to not close the bike paths at all during the winter?
Mea Culpa
Here I am bemoaning the fact that the bike lanes will not open for another couple of weeks when, in fact, they are open as of April 1st.
Mind you, it is understandable that I might have missed this fact given the signs notifying residents were not installed until today and have gone generally ignored by car owners.
April Fools! to all cyclists who thought the season has started.
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