Toronto to Plough Bike Paths This Winter
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 11.24.08
Davenport Road, early 2008. Note the "bicycle lane" and "snow route" sign, which warns citizens that cars need to be moved to keep the road clear. Note also that the bike lane is completely buried.
To any Dane or Swede, that headline would be completely silly; it is expected that such an important part of the transportation infrastructure would be maintained year round. But in Toronto, cyclists are second or third class citizens when it comes to the plough.
Now City Council is looking at a making "special efforts" to keep some major bike lanes clear of snow. The commenters in the papers went nuts:"NO taxpayers should not pay to clear cycle paths in winter. Use some common sense! The sidewalks and side streets should be first priority after main streets and highways."
In Denmark, they have special ploughs to keep the streets clear, and you don't have people complaining that "Riding a bicycle in the winter? Make sure your life insurance is paid up. It's sheer idiocy!"- you clear the roads and then it is not idiocy, it is transportation.
I wonder what they would do in Denmark if someone parked like this in a bike lane.
Back in Toronto, Yvonne Bambrick, a spokeswoman for the Toronto Cyclists Union, a lobby group, praised the city for pledging to clear routes with cyclists in mind.
"This is my fifth winter riding," Ms. Bambrick said. "It's definitely doable." More in Globe and Mail
More on winter biking in TreeHugger
Winter Biking Isn't So Bad
Ride Your Bike All Winter (Part I)
Ride Your Bike All Winter (Part II)
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- Big Surprise: Bike Sales Drop in Winter
- Bike Sharing System for Buenos Aires Moving Forward
- Ride a Bus in the Winter and Survive
- Hilarious New Korean Bike Share Is 'Interesting Joyful Attraction'
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It also sounds completley silly to me, living in MInneapolis, MN. The city plows ALL bike trails and bike lanes, many even before most of the roads. People even still ride their bikes when the wind chill is well over -20 F.
Montreal has annouced it will keep some of the bike-paths opened this winter, about 30km, as part of what is called the 'reseau blanc' that will be extended over the years (out of 300km of existing bike paths). Many people ride their bike in winter here, despite the cold and lots of snow.
Map of the paths kept opened this year:
http://www.velo.qc.ca/files/file/2009_reseau_blanc.pdf
Newspaper article (in french):
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/regional/montreal/200811/19/01-802097-velo-a-montreal-30-km-de-reseau-blanc-au-centre-ville.php