Cyclists could soon use some Sudbury boulevards to get around town

Cyclists looking for another way to get around town in Sudbury may have a new option in the near future.

At Sudbury city council's meeting on Tuesday, councillors passed a motion to allow cycling on selected concrete boulevards in the city.

• Cyclists don't feel safe riding on Sudbury's busy streets

"This is not a motion to permit cycling on all boulevards throughout the city," said councillorDebMcIntosh, who pushed for the change. "It is for designated ones, just as we have designated fire routes in this city or no parking areas."

Riding a bicycle on a boulevard has notbeen allowed because of municipal bylaws.

The changes are notfinal yet a report on the designated routes still has to be presented to city councillors in the new year.

Boulevards won't be open in winter

Should the new regulations go through, cyclists still will notbe allowed to use the designated boulevards during the winter.

"We shouldn't make the assumption that just because we have a designated boulevard for cycling that it will be maintained," saidTony Cecutti, the city's general manager of infrastructure services.

"I anticipate that most of these boulevards will still be part of the snow storage during the winter months."

In addition to possibly opening up some boulevards, city officials in Sudbury are also looking to create cycling tracks on the Paris-Notre Dame corridor, and the north side of Lorne Street.