Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve victim of its popularity

If Formula 1 racing cars remain the symbol of the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit, it is mainly cyclists who use it for a good part of the summer season to train and have fun. Their number is also increasing sharply, to the point that this raises safety issues on this track on Île Notre-Dame.

Less than a week away from the strong comeback of the Formula 1 Grand Prix, the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit is in its final preparations in order to be able to accommodate racing cars that can travel up to 350 km/h on this 4-speed race track. .3 km. At the end of this sporting event, however, it is the cyclists who will once again become, from June 24, the main users of this circuit, whose configuration is also ideal for achieving feats of speed on two wheels.

“The proximity to a city like Montreal and Parc Jean-Drapeau, which is accessible by bike, means that there are a lot of cyclists who go to train there. It’s safe because there are fewer cars and it’s convenient for training in groups and doing race simulations,” notes seasoned cyclist François Guimard.

The latter is the founder of the first edition of the Vélocité festival, which took place from May 4 to 8 in the metropolis. This event, which wishes to become annual, culminated in a professional race, which attracted 430 cyclists on the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit. “It’s really a lot for a cycling event,” rejoices Mr. Guimard.

Data from the meters located on this track provided to the To have to report an increase in the number of recorded passages of cyclists during the summer season, which lasts at this location from April to November. This number has thus increased from around 220,000 in 2018 to more than 318,000 last year, an increase of nearly 45% in three years.

“We have nevertheless seen an increase in traffic and interest in our facilities,” notes the spokesperson for the Société du parc Jean-Drapeau, Kaven Gauthier, in an interview with the To have to.

More skirmishes

This increase, which testifies to the growing appeal of cycling in the context of the pandemic, also echoes the growing importance given to cyclists in the development of this site over the years. First improvised in the early 2000s, the presence of bicycles on the site was then marked out by the presence of bollards, while car traffic, which used to be in both directions on this track, is now unidirectional and limited. at a maximum speed of 30 km/h.

The main problem of cohabitation on this site today is therefore not between cyclists and motorists, but rather between the cyclists themselves, not to mention the followers of inline skates and running.

“What we have noticed is that there are indeed problems of cohabitation between cyclists. This is due to the fact that there are really two types of athletes who train with us. There are high-level, performance cyclists, and we have more neophyte cyclists ”, who have less mastery of the rules to be respected in order to avoid collisions, explains Kaven Gauthier. Thus, the Société du parc Jean-Drapeau (SPJD) has noted an increase in collisions between cyclists on this track, where paramedics are called to intervene “still regularly”, confides the spokesperson.

In May 2021, a cyclist also died following a collision with another cyclist on the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit, which led to the opening of an investigation by the Coroner’s Office, which did not yet filed its report. Its recommendations could help the SPJD improve safety on this track, hopes the president and CEO of Vélo Québec, Jean-François Rheault. Because, currently, “there are still security problems, there are still development problems” on this site, he notes.

In this regard, Kaven Gauthier, of the SPJD, affirms that the dialogue is continuing with the members of the advisory committee on cycling at Parc Jean-Drapeau, of which elected officials from the City and members of Vélo Québec are among others. , in order to “continuously improve the facilities” of the circuit so that it is “safe”. The display on the site has notably been improved to call on cyclists to be careful, while communication campaigns have been set in motion to facilitate cohabitation on this site, indicates the spokesperson.

A sporting vocation

The presence of sports cyclists on the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit has also created a few twists in the last decade. In particular, we witnessed an outcry from cycling groups in 2010 when the former administration of Gérald Tremblay wanted to put chicanes on the site to slow down cyclists who were inconveniencing pedestrians. These barriers were then removed.

Then, in 2017, the administration of Denis Coderre announced the closure of this circuit for the entire summer to allow the relocation of the events of the private promoter Evenko to the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit, before backtracking under popular pressure.

There are indeed problems of cohabitation between cyclists

Since then, the importance of this site for sports cyclists, who benefit on this circuit from a superior quality asphalt to pick up speed, has been better recognized, but there is still a long way to go, believes Jean-François Rheault.

“For sporty cyclists, the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit, like the Camillien-Houde route [sur le mont Royal], these are the two places that are favorite places for training, ”he notes. However, in both cases, the sporting vocation of these sites “is not recognized at its fair value” by the City, he argues.

The Master Plan for the Conservation, Landscaping and Development of Parc Jean-Drapeau 2020-2030, which is the result of a public consultation held in 2018, also reports a “lack of recognition” of the sporting vocation of the park, including its Gilles-Villeneuve circuit, which was named in 1982 in homage to the famous racing driver. The vast document thus recommends “affirming the sporting vocation of the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit by offering training time slots reserved for cyclists”, a vision shared by Mr. Rheault.

François Guimard, for his part, believes it is important that this circuit remain “accessible to everyone”. “We must start by communicating the existence of this circuit, the accessibility of this circuit for families”, before thinking of creating time slots reserved only for high-level cyclists, he believes.

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