Despite the sun and the large number of cyclists, some bumps punctuated the 38e edition of the Tour de l’Île this weekend, in Montreal. Construction sites set up “at the last minute” hampered the smooth running of the festive event.
“The Tour de l’Île takes place in Montreal. Construction sites that are done at the last minute, it happens. We are really sorry! »
Jean-François Rheault, CEO of Vélo Québec, which organizes the Tour de l’Île, apologized to the thousands of participants on Sunday afternoon after traffic jams punctuated the 24 km and 47km. Some participants told the Duty having waited for long minutes, immobilized because of traffic at certain street corners.
For example, at the corner of avenue Christophe-Colomb and rue des Carrières, a construction site installed its penates “at the last minute” at the edge of the road, which reduced the width of the cycle path by 4 m at 2.7m.
These hiccups did not reduce participation in the event. No less than 17,000 people took part in the Tour de l’Île on Sunday during the day, while 19,000 were counted on Friday evening for the Tour at night. A thousand people have also challenged themselves to do the new “Discovery Tour”, twice as long as the Tour de l’Île, and which extends to the North Shore.
“This is the first time that the Tour de nuit has exceeded the Tour de l’Île in number of participants. It’s a record,” Mr. Rheault said enthusiastically, emphasizing the “hyperfestive” side of this nighttime traffic.
This record attendance delights him, especially since this event “is more difficult to organize now” because of “the multiplication of construction sites and security-related constraints”.
A long way
The number of participants in the Tour de l’Île remains far from the 40,000 cyclists of the 1980s and 1990s. The “cycling culture” promoted by the event has however come a long way since the beginning of the event, 38 years old.
“In Montreal, major cycle routes appeared in the mid-1980s, on the Boyer and Rachel trails, to link the parks together,” recalled Jean-François Rheault. “At the end of the 2000s, we installed cycle lanes, the Bixi, the Maisonneuve trail. We have now reached the third wave with high-quality security infrastructures, where it is very, very easy to get around. »
The pandemic has not damaged the cogs of this two-wheeler festival either. A single large start and finish site has been set up, unlike the last two years, where several entry gates lined the route. “The novelty is somewhat the use of the format with full animation,” said Mr. Rheault jokingly.
The 2023 route started at Maisonneuve Park, at the corner of Rosemont Boulevard. The cyclists traveled through the boroughs of Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie, Saint-Michel, Montréal-Nord and Saint-Léonard.
“For many, it’s the first time they’ve traveled such distances. All of this makes cycling easy and accessible for everyone,” concluded Jean-François Rheault.