COP15 road closures, parking, and public transit: What you need to know
The fences are up, the flights are booked, and the programs are set – Montreal will host thousands of people attending and presenting at the upcoming COP15 biodiversity conference at the Palais des Congres.
“The event will bring as many as 12,000 participants,” said city spokesperson Philippe Sabourin, adding the event is expected to bring in $85 million in attendant spending.
Decision makers from around the world will be in Montreal, hoping to reach an agreement to protect endangered species.
Jay Ritchlin of the David Suzuki Foundation says he wants to hear real solutions presented at the conference.
“I think the big question here is ‘are we going to get that kind of commitment on a global scale to actually halt and reverse biodiversity loss, nature loss?’” he said.
“That ‘halt’ part, the ‘halt and reverse’, that’s really one of those key things that we’ve got to try and get, and there are a lot of countries pushing for it,” he said.
Some groups have threatened to disrupt the meetings. Environmental activists have publically raised doubts about the convictions of governments, saying they created the problems, and can’t be trusted to fix them.
“The David Suzuki Foundation is fully supportive of people who want to get out in the streets and make their voices heard,” said Ritchlin. “Of course, no one condones violence, and to be honest, I think that’s a very small part of any of these protests.”
Montreal police will be out in huge numbers, along with officers from the Surete du Quebec and the RCMP. The city is also limiting traffic near the convention centre.
“We’re doing everything in order to secure the area because we don’t want to have negative impacts coming from the protesters,” said Sabourin. “As long as they protest peacefully, it’s fine to do so .”
COP15 starts Wednesday and goes until Dec. 19th.
NAVIGATING THE AREA
The fence and temporary road closures could make for navigational headaches for commuters and tourists in the area.
Here’s what you need to know to get around:
Source: City of Montreal
CLOSURES
The fence will reduce thoroughfare to one lane on the following streets:
- Viger ave., between Saint-Urbain and Jean-Paul-Riopelle (south-side lane closed)
- Saint-Antoine St. between Saint-Urbain and Jean-Paul-Riopelle (north-side lane closed)
- Saint-Urbain St. between Saint-Antoine and Viger (west-side lane).
- Jean-Paul-Riopelle is completely closed. Chenneville and De La Gauchetiere are accessible only by local traffic.
- De La Gauchetiere, which is usually a one-way going west, will be flipped to eastbound between De Bleury and Jeanne-Mance.
PARKING
As of Dec. 1, the Palais des congres parking lot will only be open to authorized vehicles.
PUBLIC TRANSIT
The Place-d’Armes metro station closed on Dec. 1 and will remain shut until Dec. 20. Trains will run between the two neighbouring stations, Champ-de-Mars and Square-Victoria-OACI without stopping at Place-d’Armes.
Busses will also be avoiding the area. The red line in the map below indicated the no-go zone.
Source: STM
A detailed rundown of the affected routes and schedules is available here.
CYCLING
Cyclists will have access to the REV between Viger Ave. and Saint-Antoine St.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.