The Plante administration is considering “several options” to pay tribute to Robert Silverman, this pioneer of the cycling cause who died a few days ago at the age of 88, including renaming certain segments of the Express Network bicycle (REV) in his honor.
Posted at 9:58 a.m.
In the office of the mayor of Montreal, we say that we are “assessing the possibilities”. Contacts have been made in recent days with the family “to find out their wishes and those that Mr. Silverman would have expressed”. “Our desire is to pay tribute to this man, so everything is on the table, but the most important thing is that it be done with his loved ones,” press secretary Marikym Gaudreault said on Monday.
She says that “several options” are being considered by the City, including renaming the REV, or at least some of its routes, or even other bike paths “which were dear to Mr. Silverman”.
According to our information, a bike path has also been identified by family members on Chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine, in the Côte-des-Neiges sector, as an interesting trail to pay tribute to the deceased. . The latter had also mentioned it before he died.
” An exceptional man ”
On Twitter on Sunday, Mayor Valérie Plante spoke of Robert Silverman as “an exceptional man”. “His legacy is notable: more bike lanes, more safe cyclists, more active mobility. We are thinking of a way to sustainably highlight his legacy, ”she said.
This week-end, The Press reported that Montrealers like Jacques Desjardins, co-founder with Silverman of the group Le Monde à vélo in 1975, are now campaigning for the REV Saint-Denis to be renamed in honor of the principal concerned. Nicknamed “Bicycle Bob”, Mr. Silverman died on February 20, at the age of 88. Of all the fights for the place of the bicycle in the city – which he saw as a way of transforming urban environments –, however, he is largely unknown to the general public.
Today, his former companions say they hope that Montreal cyclists will finally be able to pay him the homage that is due to him. Several tributes have exploded in recent days on social networks, to underline the invaluable contribution of the man to Montreal cycling. A minute of silence was also observed in his honor last Monday at the municipal council.
“Cycling has changed my life. It gave me a reason to live, a cause I really believed in. I still believe in it a lot. I would still campaign for cycling if my health allowed it, ”he said in 2017, when The Press had met him in his apartment in Val-David, in the Laurentians, where he had retired to enjoy his old age.
With Gabriel Beland, The Press