It has been nearly a month since I returned to the Island of Montreal. In that time, I hadn't left it. For that matter, I had barely left my arrondissement. However, today was a warm day, so I decided to explore a possible escape route for future reference, viz the new bike path on the Samuel-de-Champlain Bridge a.k.a. the New Champlain Bridge.
This took a surprising amount of tracking down. It was not that the
Bridge is not easy to find. The problem is that Nun's Island hasn't
quite got around to posting proper signage to help cyclists find the
bike path. Furthermore, the bike path and therefore access to it, is on
the downriver side of the bridge which is on the far side of the bridges
(old and new) from where most of Nun's Island's bike paths are. Also, I don't think anyone has told Google Maps about the bike path. It wanted me to take the Ice Breaker Bridge, which is closed.
The Bridge Bike Path once found was unsurprisingly busy and home to any number of blackflies or something similar. It ended on the South Shore end with a long swooping curve that led back to a bike path on the shores of the river back over Highway 132/Autoroute 15. This seemed rather daft as it seems rather hard for people living right beside the Bridge to use it by bike. I would have put a bike bridge over the road around about where the big white pylon is. As if to prove my point, I saw someone heave his bike over a fence and then follow suit just about there. Currently, the bike paths seem more aimed at pleasure riders rather than at commuters.
The site is still under construction and the grey weather did not help make it look very attractive.
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