More than 30 years after Steve Bauer, Hugo Houle won a stage of the Tour de France on July 19. The first Quebecer to do so. A remarkable feat in a Nordic country where this sport has shallower roots than those of winter. A feat charged with emotion for the one who dedicated his victory to his brother, killed by a drunk driver while jogging.
Posted at 9:00 a.m.
A eulogy concert followed. Prime Minister François Legault highlighted the historic victory of the Quebec cyclist. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau emphasized his determination and drive. In all of the reactions, one trend: all this will be good for the growth of cycling in Quebec. The SAAQ even recalled in a tweet the importance of sharing the road between all users.
This momentum was slowed down in the minutes that followed by Danielle Fleury, Deputy CEO of the CHUM, who announced the institution’s formal notice to the City of Montreal to prevent it from building a secure bike path on the street Viger. According to Mme Fleury, a secure cycle path would be problematic for ambulance access to the hospital, ignoring the fact that a sidewalk and a cycle lane already separate the traffic lanes from the garage door.
flouting one’s own vision
The CHUM misses everything in this outing. First and foremost, it fails to respect its own vision, which specifies that “since health and well-being are closely linked to a healthy environment, the CHUM is committed to integrating sustainable development and carbon neutrality into its activities”. Health, wellness, sustainability and carbon neutrality are all synonymous with cycling. Wanting to ensure safe practice with the help of real active transportation infrastructures is only the logical next step in a perspective of vision zero.
Basically, what is the Deputy Director General of the CHUM objecting to here? She fears the delays of the ambulances. A valid fear when every second counts for patients arriving by ambulance. But how does a bicycle delay an ambulance more than a car?
If we push the logic of Mme Fleury at the end of the reasoning, why not ban all automobile traffic from the quadrilateral of the CHUM? Of course, she says nothing about what is really slowing down the ambulance’s progress: the car.
Resistance to change
The CHUM is not the first institution to provide critical front-line services to the population of Montreal and Quebec and which must deal with active transportation infrastructures within its scope of activity. To access the main entrance of Santa Cabrini Hospital, you must cross the secure bike path on rue Saint-Zotique. The Hôtel-Dieu is surrounded by cycle paths: the horror! The fire station on Rachel at the corner of Parc La Fontaine overlooks one of Montreal’s busiest bike paths. The one located on Saint-Laurent, in the Palais des Congrès building, also has to deal with hordes of pedestrians and cyclists wishing to get to the Old Port.
I have never seen a cyclist not yield to an emergency vehicle, be it an ambulance, a police vehicle or a fire engine. The bicycle can easily move to make room for the ambulance, which a car cannot do.
It’s not complicated: there is only bad faith and resistance to change in this release from the CHUM.
Hugo Houle believed in his dream in memory of his brother. The Montreal administration believes in protecting the most vulnerable road users, on behalf of all those who have lost their lives on the roads of the city for simply traveling with something other than a car. It seems to me that a healthcare establishment should understand and have an interest in keeping cyclists on their two wheels, instead of being on the four wheels of a stretcher.