I see there are already a number of posts over the last couple of years mentioning the Quebec "Route Verte" (Green Route) network of bikeways and rail trails, but I just read in a travel mag that the route is being formally inaugurated August 10, 2007. Apparently there will be ceremonies etc. in 20 municipalities along the route.
http://routeverte.com
Gearing up for August 10...
The unveiling of the longest network of bicycle paths in the Americas will take place on Friday, August 10, 2007.
Go Green!
The Route verte is a 4,000-kilometre-long network of cycling paths whose development has taken over 12 years and involved of nearly a thousand organizations and businesses. The official international unveiling of the largest unified system of bikeways in the Americas will take place on August 10, 2007.
The official ceremonies will be held on the morning of August 10 at some 20 locations across the province, accompanied by cycling events, community celebrations, tributes to local artists and craftspeople and many other activities. Later in the afternoon, at Domaine de Maizerets in Québec City, 2,000 Grand Tour participants will join a gathering of local cycling club members as well as the participants in the 26-day Destination Route verte•07, which will cross the various regions of Québec—from Ville-Marie through Témiscamingue and the Gaspé Peninsula—in order to encourage people across the province to discover the Route verte on their own.
And that’s not all! From August 5 to 10, the Route verte will also undergo its first international evaluation by a group of bikeway development experts. A roving five-day conference known as the Forum mobile international de la Route verte will put a dozen specialists from around the world in contact with the local partners who have contributed to bringing the Route verte to fruition.
All summer long, a host of other activities will be held throughout Québec to celebrate the completion of the Route verte network in various areas or to renew the momentum to put the finishing touches on some of the remaining segments. Read on for more details.
Here’s to a fun, safe and discovery-filled summer on the Route verte!
Jean-François Pronovost
Executive Director
Vélo Québec Association
Message from the Ministère des Transports
The fruit of Vélo Québec’s ambitious dreams, the Route verte (green road) really took off in 1995 thanks to the support of the government of Quebec. Since that time, the Ministère des Transports, municipalities and regional stakeholders involved in the development of bicycle networks have worked relentlessly on establishing this route, the only one of its kind in North America. With 4,000 kilometers soon to be completed, the time has come to inaugurate this infrastructure and invite the people of Quebec to pedal their way along this safe, appropriately marked and diversified route connecting all regions of Quebec.
Accordingly, numerous activities will be taking place in the summer of 2007 to highlight the event in a special way. Hundreds of cyclists from here and abroad will ride up and down this bicycle network and discover Quebec’s hidden side—sometimes vast and rural, other times bustling and lively.
Cyclists riding along the Route verte will get a sense of the province’s true worth. It is now up to all of us to take advantage of this vast bicycle network—a unique transportation infrastructure, sustainable tourist attraction and symbol of a healthy Quebec.
Travel in a different way... on the Route verte!