Cote Ste-Catherine bike path Nimby-ism rears it's ugly head

Some angry residents do not want cyclists to have a safe way to travel by bicycles on Cote Ste-Catherine road, and are planning to storm the Outremont city hall tonight.

We have supported this bike path since day one. You should too. THere is no safe way to travel east-west north of Mont Royal,

The current unsafe situation is a complete disgrace. The residents of Montreal who travel by bicycle have a right to a safe route to travel, and cote ste-catherine road is the only logical route.

This is something the minority of angry residents are going have to get over.

they argue about safety and secutirty, but the present autoroute-de cote-ste-catherine-road is not at all safe.

Here's a link to the angry person who misrepresents many details about the new bike path.

His (her?) main point is that cars will travel beside the sidewalk. It works on many streets in Montreal just fine, but these anti-progress people like to take one fact, portray it as a huge danger, and then build their argument on this baseless fact until they are so angry they can't see straight, I mean think they have a case.

We've said it before, and we'll say it again, a bike path is better than no bike path, and the main reason people some residents are angry is the removal of on-street parking. Poor little rich people, boohoo, boohoo. Can't park their 3rd and 4th cars for free on the street.

Sorry for the arrogance there. Anyone who actually read the plans can see that the Nimby group misrepresents many aspects to the bike path.

We'll say it again, a bike path is better than no bike path, and the present situation is very dangerous for anyone riding a bicycle.
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UPDATE

We went to the Outremont city hall meeting tonight and there's no going back on the bike path (good thing, since it's half constructed).

The mayor Marie Cinq-Mars repeated the following points:

• the bike path will improve life for cote-ste-catherine residents
• the reduction of the speed limit to 40 km/h will improve safety
• the traffic lights will be synchronized to improve traffic flow
• she will lose some votes for doing this, for doing the right thing
• cyclists have a right to safe use of the road
• the Cote ste-catherine route is the most logical for a bike route north of Mt Royal
• there have been consultations since 2002
• active transport is a choice the city is providing for it's citizens