Context
In this regard, towpaths, old rural paths, and disused railway tracks are privileged mediums for the development of voies vertes. [4] If managed appropriately (through sustainable gardening and restoration ecology, and without the use of pesticides in the surroundings, which can then potentially play a role in the green infraestructure and blue network), voires vertes are one of the elements of sustainable development policies in the relevant areas.
For English speakers, greenways refers to voies vertes, but also more generally to "a road that is good from an environmental point of view" (Turner, 1995, [5] or - in England, according to a survey cited by Turner in 2006: "a linear space containing elements planned, designed, and managed for multiple purposes, including ecological, recreational, cultural, aesthetic, and others compatible with the concept of sustainable land use") or a wide range of landscape and urban planning strategies including, to varying degrees, an environmental concern associated with transportation infrastructure, [6] [7] the edges of which have often acquired special value [8] and are sometimes associated with the concept of a biological corridor in Europe. [9]
Features and Benefits
They are most often developed on old railway lines, [15] towpaths, [16] roads closed to automobile traffic, and cultural routes (Roman roads, pilgrimage routes). They have certain characteristics:
- Ease of access: their low or nonexistent slopes allow for use by all types of users, including those with reduced mobility; [16]
- Safety due to their physical separation from roadways and appropriate intersection design;
- Continuity of routes with alternative solutions in case of obstacles;
- Environmental respect along the paths and encouragement for users to respect it.
Voies vertes also offer services, located in preserved old facilities such as former railway stations and lockkeeper's houses. These services can be of various types: accommodation, museums, bike rental, equestrian accommodation, community centers, etc. They cater to both local users and tourists. voies vertes are provided with information (maps, brochures, etc.) about the route itself and nearby sites. For example, several tens of kilometers of the former coastal railway of the Chemins de Fer de Provence have been converted into a cycle path between Toulon and Pramousquier (in the municipality of Le Lavandou).
This example illustrates the main criticism of voies vertes, namely the fact that they sometimes contribute to downgrading and therefore definitively condemning railway lines that could potentially be reopened for collectivization and decarbonization of travel in peri-urban or rural areas, instead of taking up space on roads. This competition between two complementary modes in an era of energy transition inducing increasing decarbonization of travel can therefore be ironic. [17]
EuroVelo is a network of 17 long-distance cycling routes criss-crossing Europe, in various stages of completion. When completed, the EuroVelo network's total length will be almost 90,000 km (56,000 mi). As of November 2022 more than 56,000 km (35,000 mi) were in place. EuroVelo is a project of the European Cyclists' Federation (ECF).
The Coulée verte René-Dumont or Promenade plantée René-Dumont is a 4.7 km (2.9 mi) elevated linear park built on top of obsolete railway infrastructure in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was inaugurated in 1993.
A greenway is usually a shared-use path along a strip of undeveloped land, in an urban or rural area, set aside for recreational use or environmental protection. Greenways are frequently created out of disused railways, canal towpaths, utility company rights of way, or derelict industrial land. Greenways can also be linear parks, and can serve as wildlife corridors. The path's surface may be paved and often serves multiple users: walkers, runners, bicyclists, skaters and hikers. A characteristic of greenways, as defined by the European Greenways Association, is "ease of passage": that is that they have "either low or zero gradient", so that they can be used by all "types of users, including mobility impaired people".
Établissements Billard was a French railway rolling stock construction company founded in 1920 and based in Tours. It specialised in light railbuses and metre gauge and narrow gauge rolling stock. The business ceased trading in 1956 and later became Socofer.
The Route verte is a network of bicycling and multiuse trails and designated roads, lanes, and surfaces in Quebec, Canada. The trail network inaugurated on August 10, 2007, and spans 5,034 kilometres (3,128 mi) as of 31 October 2013. It includes both urban trails 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 Magdalen Islands, 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.
Saint-Gédéon or Saint-Gédéon-de-Grandmont is a municipality in Quebec, Canada, in the regional county municipality of Lac-Saint-Jean-Est and the administrative region of Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean. It is on the eastern shore of Lac Saint-Jean at the mouth of the Belle River.
Cycling is a common means of transportation, sport, and recreation in Paris, France. As of 2021, about 15% of trips in the city are made by bicycle, taking place on over 1,000 km (620 mi) of cycling paths. The Tour de France, the largest sporting event in cycling, finishes on the Champs-Élysées. Four major recreational cycling routes—EuroVelo 3, Avenue Verte, the Seine à Vélo, and the Veloscenic—pass by Notre-Dame Cathedral.
RAVeL or in French: Réseau autonome des voies lentes is a Walloon initiative aimed at creating a network of itineraries reserved for pedestrians, cyclists, horse riders and people with reduced mobility, initiated at the end of the 1980s and connecting major cities and secondary municipalities of Wallonia through over 1,440 km (890 mi) of pathways.
The Tunnel du Bois Clair is a 1.6 km (0.99 mi) former railway tunnel near Cluny, France, that is now the longest cycling tunnel of Europe, as part of a voie verte, the Voie Verte de Bourgogne du Sud.
Long-distance cycling routes are designated cycling routes in various countries around the world for bicycle tourism. These routes include anything from longer rail trails, to national cycling route networks like the Dutch LF-routes, the French Veloroute or the routes of the British National Cycle Network, to the multi-state routes of the United States Bicycle Route System, to the multi-country routes of the EuroVelo network in Europe, the longest of which is over 6,800 km (4,200 mi) in length.
A national cycling route network is a nationwide network of designated long-distance cycling routes found in various countries around the world for the purposes of bicycle tourism. They are often created and maintained by the government of the country, or at least with the backing or co-operation of the government of the country. Some of the routes in these national networks can be part of international long-distance cycling routes, such as the EuroVelo network of European cycling routes.
EuroVelo 1 (EV1), named the Atlantic Coast Route, is a 10,650 km (6,620 mi) long EuroVelo long-distance cycling route running from North Cape in Norway to Valença in Portugal. This north-south route runs (mostly) along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean of Western Europe and passes successively through nine countries: Norway, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Wales, England, France, Spain and Portugal.
EuroVelo 3 (EV3), named the Pilgrims Route, is a EuroVelo long-distance cycling route running 5,650 km (3,510 mi) running from Trondheim in Norway to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. This north-south route travels through Europe passing successively through seven countries: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, France and Spain.
EuroVelo 5 (EV5), named the Via Romea Francigena, is a 3,900 km (2,400 mi) long EuroVelo long-distance cycling route running from Canterbury to Rome and ending at the Italian port of Brindisi. The route crosses Europe passing successively through six countries: UK, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, France again, Switzerland and Italy.
Saône-et-Loire is one of the four departments of Burgundy. Tourism in this region is founded on its varied landscape, its gastronomy with the prestigious mâconnais wines, the charolais beef, the poulet de Bresse, and its rich architectural sites,
The Station touristique Duchesnay, formerly known as the “Sanctuaire de Duchesnay”, is a resort park located on the edge of Saint-Joseph Lake, in the La Jacques-Cartier Regional County Municipality, in the administrative region of Capitale-Nationale, in Quebec (Canada). The territory of this station extends over several municipalities: Lac-Saint-Joseph, Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier, Lac-Sergent and Saint-Raymond (north). Duchesnay is operated by Société des établissements de plein air du Québec (SÉPAQ).
The Maubeuge-Fourmiesrail line was a French non-electrified, single track railway line, inaugurated August 29, 1885 between Maubeuge station and Fourmies. The line started as branch line for industrial use that was commissioned on October 29, 1860.
The line from Tournemire - Roquefort to Le Vigan is a former standard gauge, single track, railway line in the Aveyron and Gard departments of France. It served the principal stations of Tournemire - Roquefort and Le Vigan.
Tourism in Brittany attracts around 13 million visitors a year. An important sector of the region's economy, it accounts for just under 10% of the region's GDP, and directly employs just under 70,000 people. Seasonal activity extends from May to September, and is mainly concentrated on the coast, particularly in the departments of Finistère and Morbihan.
