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The UCI Road World Championships will cause significant disruptions to vehicle traffic in the Montreal area starting Saturday.
Athletes will train on various courses ahead of the competitions, scheduled between Sept. 20 and 27, which will feature the world’s elite cyclists.
The routes cyclists will take vary depending on the event, with most races taking place in Westmount and the boroughs of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Plateau-Mont-Royal, Sud-Ouest, Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Outremont, Verdun and Ville-Marie.
With the exception of the event’s main site, installations marking the courses will be put in place each morning at 7 a.m. and removed in the early evening, allowing motorists to travel through the area.
Officials are encouraging people to use Waze or Google Maps to plan their trips during the world championships, as event data will be integrated into the apps.
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The City of Montreal has also created an interactive map showing streets that are inaccessible to vehicles in real time.
Among the major routes affected by the traffic restrictions are Côte-Sainte-Catherine Road, Docteur-Penfield Avenue, René-Lévesque Boulevard and Sherbrooke Street, as well as several streets in Old Montreal.
The time trial courses will also cause disruptions in the Old Port area and around Parc Jean-Drapeau.
Highway ramps closed
From Sept. 19 to 22, between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m., exits 58 and 60 on northbound Highway 15 will be closed. The Bonaventure Expressway will also be closed to traffic heading toward downtown from Nuns’ Island.
To make travel between the South Shore and Montreal easier, the Chevrier parking lot in Brossard will be free. Free shuttles will run from there to the Du Quartier REM station on Saturday and Sunday from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
There will be traffic disruptions in Brossard as well.
In the Ville-Marie borough, the Highway 136 ramp 7, as well as sections of Notre-Dame Street East, Atateken Street and Saint-Antoine Street East, will also be affected by the cycling competitions until Tuesday at 5 p.m.
The event’s main site, where the races will start and finish, will be at the foot of Mount Royal on Park Avenue between des Pins and Mount Royal avenues.
That area will remain closed to traffic until Oct. 4 to allow crews to dismantle the installations.
Parking restrictions along race routes
Parking will be prohibited on streets that form part of the various race routes and those used by races from Sept. 19 to 22. It will also be banned on streets in affected areas from Sept. 23 to 27, starting at midnight on Sept. 22. Vehicles that remain parked on race routes could be towed.
Parking measures have been put in place for permit holders. Information for each sector is available on the city’s website.
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People can also reserve and pay for parking near the race routes in advance through ClicknPark.
For garbage and recycling collections, residents of streets closed to traffic must either put their bins at the curb the evening before collection so they can be picked up early in the morning before the streets close, or put them out after the traffic restrictions are removed, before 7 p.m. on collection day, so they can be picked up in the evening after the roads reopen.
Public transit woes
Montreal buses will not be immune to the traffic disruptions and detours, which are expected to cause delays.
The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) is planning bus-route diversions from Sept. 19 to 27 and is encouraging passengers to check its website for information about possible route changes.
Significant crowds are expected at Place-des-Arts station on the Metro’s Green line and Mont-Royal station on the Orange line.
The STM has also put on sale a special event ticket for $55, providing unlimited access to the public transit network in sectors A, B and C for the duration of the world championships.
For paratransit, the STM says it will ensure all trips are provided, but passengers should expect delays.
Greater Montreal motorists will need to be patient this weekend because, in addition to the cycling world championships, construction is scheduled in the Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine tunnel.
The work will result in a complete closure of the tunnel in both directions overnight from Sept. 18 to 19.
The Victoria Bridge will be open with one lane in each direction because of work on Bridge Street.
Montrealers may also have to contend with a potential strike by blue-collar workers at the same time as the cycling competition.