New bike path to open this fall on Dorval’s Cardinal Avenue

DORVAL – Montreal has announced it’s building a new bike path along Cardinal avenue in Dorval, starting at Des Sources Boulevard.

Jason Forte, a Dorval resident who was biking along Bord du Lac on Friday afternoon, says biking in Dorval isn’t always safe.

“The current bike path they have could be better because it forces me to ride along traffic a lot,” said Forte.

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It’s why he doesn’t bike much. But the new bike path is welcomed news and might make him change his mind.

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“I think it’s great, Montreal is one of the best cities to bike in North America, so it makes sense that they should have more bike paths,” added Forte.

The new bike path is adding 2.5 kilometres of route and will connect with an existing one close to the airport, near Albert de Niverville Blvd.

The mayor of Dorval, Edgar Rouleau, says it’s been a long time coming and that they’ve been asking for this bike path for almost five years.

Finally getting the go-ahead, he says, makes way for bigger plans.

“We’re doing Dorval avenue this year, were in tender now,” said Rouleau.

Rouleau added the plan is to build a bike path on Dorval Avenue that will end up joining the existing one on Lakeshore.

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This is all part of a bigger project.

The Montreal agglomeration, responsible for bike paths, is investing $15 million dollars in extending routes, including some in the West Island, Beaconsfield, Pierrefonds and Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue.

“It’s all about territorial equity,” said Marc-Andre Gadoury, a spokesperson on cycling for the city of Montreal.

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Gadoury says the ultimate goal is to have less people in cars and more people on their bikes.

“Maybe it [the West Island] was forgotten in terms of transit, but now we’re really pushing forward to more secure bike paths for West Islanders.”

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Gadoury says the bike path should be ready to use in the fall.