More bike paths planned for Montreal: mayor

Montreal will create an additional 100 kilometres of bike paths along major arteries by next year, the city said.

The new routes will cost about $10 million to build but are worth the cost, said Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay.

"It's not an expense anymore," he said Sunday. "It is an investment in the future of our citizens."

Tremblay wouldn't specify where the money would come from but said he would be creative about funding the new paths.

Cycling organizations say the expansion will accommodate a growing number of people who are choosing to commute by bike.

"Now the people want to go to work on their bikes, so they need installations — bicycle paths, bicycle parking too, to use their bikes every day," said Suzanne Lareau, president of Vélo Québec.

The new bicycle paths will run along Côte-Ste-Catherine St. and Parc Avenue.

The city plans to build as many as 400 kilometres of new bike paths over the next seven years, announcing the plans at a renaming ceremony Sunday.

The Maisonneuve bike path has been renamed in honour of Claire Morrissette, a Montreal cycling activist who died last year.

Morrissette was the co-founder of Communauto, a popular car-sharing service.