The Route Verte (in English, the "Green Route," or the "Greenway") is a network of bicycling and multiuse trails and designated roads, lanes, and surfaces, spanning 4,923 kilometres (3,059 mi) as of October 31, 2011, in the Canadian province of Quebec, inaugurated on August 10, 2007. The trail network includes both urban trails (for example, in and around the city of Montreal) and cycling routes into quite isolated areas in the north, as well as along both sides of the Saint Lawrence River, out to the Gaspésie region, and on the Îles de la Madeleine, linking more than 320 municipalities along the way. The Route Verte is not entirely composed of trails, as nearly 61% of the network actually consists of on-road surfaces, whether regular roads with little traffic, wide shoulders, special lanes on highways, or otherwise. The segregated trails are mostly rail trails shared-use with hikers and other users.
| Route Number | Regions Served | Main Cities Served | Existing Trails Spanned |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outaouais, Laurentides, Laval, Montreal, Montérégie, Estrie, Centre-du-Québec, Chaudière-Appalaches, Bas-Saint-Laurent, Gaspésie, Îles-de-la-Madelaine | Gatineau, Laval, Montreal, Longueuil, Granby, Sherbrooke, Lévis, Rivière-du-Loup, Rimouski, Gaspé, Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine | Sentier des Voyageurs, La Vagabonde, Piste Cyclable du Canal-de-Chambly, Montérégiade II, Montérégiade I, L'Estriade, La Montagnarde, Les Grandes-Fourches, La Cantonnière, Parc Linéaire des Bois-Francs, Parc linéaire de la MRC de Lotbinière, Parc linéaire Le Grand Tronc, Par Linéaire des Anses, Véloroute des Migrations, Véloroute des Doux Pays, Le Littoral Basque |
| 2 | Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Outaouais, Laurentides, Laval, Montreal, Montérégie | Ville-Marie, Rouyn-Noranda, Val-d'Or, Saint-Jérôme, Laval, Montreal, Longueuil, New York State border | Ligne du Mocassin, Parc Linéaire Rouyn-Noranda - Taschereau, Parc Linéaire P'Tit Train du Nord, Parc Linéaire des Basses-Laurentides, Vallée des Forts |
| 4 | Mauricie, Centre-du-Québec, Montérégie, Estrie | Shawinigan, Trois-Rivières, Drummondville, Bromont, Vermont border | Circuit des Traditions, La Campagnarde |
| 5 | Montérégie, Montreal, Lanaudière, Mauricie, Capitale-Nationale | Ontario border, Montreal, Trois-Rivières, Quebec City | Piste Cyclable Soulanges, Piste Cyclable des Berges, Chemin du Roy, Corridor du Littoral |
| 6 | Capitale-Nationale, Chaudière-Appalaches | Rivière-à-Pierre, Quebec City, Lévis, Saint-Georges, Maine border | Piste cyclable Jacques-Cartier / Portneuf, Corridor des Cheminots, Véloroute de la Chaudière, Sentier des Jarrets Noirs |
| 8 | Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Côte-Nord, Charlevoix, Bas-Saint-Laurent | Alma, Saguenay, Tadoussac, Rivière-du-Loup, New Brunswick border | Véloroute des Bleuets, Parc Linéaire Interprovincial Petit-Témis |
Famous quotes containing the word route:
“By a route obscure and lonely,
Haunted by ill angels only,
Where an eidolon, named Night,
On a black throne reigns upright,
I have reached these lands but newly
From an ultimate dim Thule—
From a wild weird clime that lieth, sublime,
Out of space—out of time.”
—Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849)