CALEB NICKERSON

SHAWVILLE June 5, 2020

Members of La Défriche program were on hand on the PPJ trail in Vinton to celebrate the installation of three bike repair stations throughout Pontiac. The stations are . . .

situated along the trail in Vinton, Waltham and Bristol and include things like a tire pump, allen wrenches and other tools.

Milly Beaulieu, a councillor with the program, which is run in conjunction with Carrefour Jeunesse Emploi in Campbell’s Bay, said that five students participated, ranging from grades nine to 11.

“Anybody can join the project if they want to,” she said. “There will be students graduating, so we will have to search for more if we can.”

She said that the group meets several times a month, and after working on their project, presented it to the mayors of the MRC, who wholeheartedly supported the initiative.

The Équipiste project, as it is known, also included partnerships with local businesses to sell tools and repair equipment trail users. The GPS coordinates of the repair stations will be available on the Biciborne and Vélo-Quebec maps of the region.

Beaulieu said that they would be working in the future to increase and upgrade the current amenities on the bike path.

“We will develop more to have more things installed on the PPJ to make it better for people that use it, so they can have services along the way that they can use,” she said. “Anything to make the PPJ more comfortable for the users, so repair stations, benches, anything that will make it better.”