The Old Montreal community wants to crack down on illegally parked cars

A community group in Old Montreal is calling for better parking enforcement in the historic district.

Last summer, the Old Montreal Community Patrol began noticing an increase in illegally parked cars, which led to pedestrian safety, reduced lanes and congestion, said John Kennedy, a spokesman for the group.

There are concerns about cars stopping longer than allowed or taking delivery-only spots, said Kennedy, who lives and owns a business in the area. According to him, illegally parked vehicles make it difficult for emergency vehicles to pass.

He said parking officials admitted to group members that there would be no weekend enforcement, but this became known to the group when they noticed the absence of patrols.

Over the Easter weekend, the team patrolled a six-block radius of the Place Armes and counted 428 illegally parked vehicles, Kennedy said. Among them, 88 were parked in bus stop zones, but tickets were not issued.

With summer approaching and tens of thousands of visitors expected, the Kennedy group wants to see stricter discipline.

“Parking is at a premium in Old Montreal. Parking is very difficult to find,” Kennedy said, adding that while public transportation is encouraged, some are forced to drive. “Business owners want customers, but we want cars to keep moving.”

Unparked cars take up empty spaces on weekends rather than turning into new visitors, he said.

Laurent Chevrot, CEO Agence de mobilité is solidparking enforcement officers try to intervene as much as possible, focusing on the most serious violations.

“There's no doubt we can't be there all the time,” he said. “We try to conduct patrols as regularly as possible.”

There are 250 parking enforcement officers across the city, and the police can get involved, he said. Old Montreal is a difficult neighborhood to maintain parking, he added.

He noted that a hotline was opened last year for citizens to report any illegally parked vehicles.

In September, Montreal extended paid parking hours in much of Old Montreal and downtown, so drivers who park on the street in those areas will have to feed the meter until 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Chevrot says parking enforcement officers will soon install cameras on their vehicles that will automatically read license plates and detect illegally parked vehicles. In that case, tickets can be mailed, he said.