Parking rules are not being enforced in Old Montreal, a community group says

A community group in Old Montreal is upset that parking regulations are not being enforced.

It's an age-old tale – parking in the heritage district has always been a dilemma. For one community group, this has become a security issue.

“If a fire truck has 20 cars illegally parked on the street or a car or cars parked in front of a fire hydrant in a bus lane, so the bus has to stop in another lane and block traffic, that's a ripple effect,” said John Kennedy, of the Old Montreal Community Patrol. the founder.

So this group is asking the city to do something. Among his demands: the restoration of parking regulations on weekends, which he considers to be the peak period for visitors. He also wants more agents to patrol and hand out tickets.

“Tickets are not going to move these vehicles, but they are going to be a deterrent,” Kennedy said.

The municipal parking agency says it conducted a weekend blitz in January to assess whether changes were needed in the area.

In a statement to CTV News, the agency said, “To increase efficiency, this group of citizens is encouraged to submit their parking agent intervention requests via phone line or web form. Our call center, established last year, offers. dispatch service to our surveillance services”.

He also says he's planning another blitz for the next two weekends. Meanwhile, some Montrealers say they are irritated.

“I think it's very difficult to attract people who want to drive to restaurants and shops. I would never think about bringing a car at lunchtime, it's impossible to find parking,” said Norm Steinberg.

“I run and get things like that, I walk the streets a lot, and sometimes it blocks the road,” said Sandrine D'Aragon-Saint-Laurent, an Old Montreal worker.

“I don't drive to the Old Port. It's the traffic. First of all, the car and the parking are very expensive,” said Montrealer Margaret Borkowski.

According to the Old Montreal Residents Association, 6,000 people live in the historic neighborhood, and another annoyance for them are drivers without parking permits who take up empty spaces on the street. He wants the city to take action.

“You have to have people and they see the car pool and they move, move, move and have a more specific guide to help them move and where there is a parking access point,” association president Fiona Ham said.

The Parking Agency says it is looking to introduce automated number plate reading technology to help further enforce parking regulations.