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
Poilievre will do 'anything to win,' must condemn Alex Jones endorsement: Trudeau
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is ramping up his attacks on Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre as he promotes his government's federal budget.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
New evidence challenges the Pentagon's account of a horrific attack as the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan: CNN exclusive
New video evidence uncovered by CNN significantly undermines two Pentagon investigations into an ISIS-K suicide attack outside Kabul airport, during the American withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
All Alberta wildfires to date in 2024 believed to be human-caused: province
There are 63 wildfires burning in Alberta's forest protection area as of Wednesday morning and seven mutual aid fires, including one in the Municipal District of Peace.
Video shows suspects waving weapons, smashing glass in Toronto jewelry store robbery
Arrests have been made after five men were captured on video rampaging through a jewelry store in Toronto, waving weapons and smashing glass display cases.
Pilot proposes to flight attendant girlfriend in front of passengers
A Polish pilot proposed to his flight attendant girlfriend during a flight from Warsaw to Krakow, and she said yes.
Ottawa injects another $36M into fund for those seriously injured or killed by vaccines
The federal government has added $36.4 million to a program designed to support people who have been seriously injured or killed by vaccines since the end of 2020.
Ex-SNC executive sentenced to prison term in bridge bribery case
The RCMP says a former SNC-Lavalin executive has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison in connection with a bribery scheme for a bridge repair contract in Montreal.