Festivities create downtown gridlock
With models, hot cars, and free giveaways, crowds swamped the streets downtown as Grand Prix mania got underway Thursday.
But although the festival celebrates fast cars, no one was speeding anywhere near the events, as thousands of motorists daring to drive through the city centre were caught in horrendous gridlock.
Traffic was snarled on Drummond, Stanley and Peel Sts., with the flow of vehicles completely stopped from de Maisonneuve Blvd. north to Dr. Penfield Ave.
Drivers trying to get out of downtown on des Pins Ave. ended up in a kilometre-long traffic jam on Cedar Ave. as they tried to get to Côte-des-Neiges Rd., which was down to one lane northbound because of construction. That roadwork also jammed up Côtedes-Neiges Rd.
This year — to celebrate the Formula One race’s 50th anniversary — Peel St. is also closed from Sherbrooke St. to René Lévesque Blvd. But wait, there’s more: On Thursday, de Maisonneuve closed between Bishop and de la Montagne Sts., and St-Laurent Blvd. was closed from Sherbrooke St. to Mont-Royal Ave. for the 11-dayMural Festival.
Many drivers who were approached during the early afternoon said they had been at a crawl for more than an hour.
Rick Leckner, a longtime traffic observer who lives downtown, said while the detours are frustrating, poor communication from the city about the closures makes it worse, as there was no notice from the city on its website about the streets that are closed.
“All you hear downtown is the symphony of honking horns; people are getting a little nutso,” Leckner said.
“Even the detour signs are wrong. For me to suggest they are doing it all wrong would be unfair, but we definitely can do things better.”
This is the second weekend in a row drivers have been inconvenienced by major road closures: the city fared no better during last week’s Tour de l’Île, as information about closures was hard to find and the list of streets posted on the Vélo Québec website was incomplete.
Anik de Repentigny, a spokesperson for the Ville-Marie borough, said all traffic reporters were emailed a list of streets closed for the Grand Prix, and the borough posted an advisory on its Facebook Page.
Many of those caught in gridlock on Thursday afternoon appeared to take it in stride.
“I’ve been stuck in traffic for an hour; I was supposed to meet my (customer) an hour ago, ” said Ste-Agathe resident Gilles Labelle, who was on his way to the Four Seasons Hotel under construction on De La Montagne St.
While he said he’d rather be at his destination, Labelle said he wasn’t very upset.
“It’s part of living in the city. There’s nice sunshine, and nice people everywhere. It’s not a big deal.”
Cyclists were not exempt from the detours, as the bike path on de Maisonneuve was closed, and people were instructed to walk their bikes on the sidewalks that were crowded with pedestrians.
“I don’t know where to go,” said Marie Sainz, who was walking her bike on de Maisonneuve. “It’s frustrating because I have to go all the way down, or I can use Sherbrooke, but that is really dangerous.”
Steve Siozios, the president of the Festival Grand Prix sur Crescent, said the size of the crowds and new security precautions forced organizers to close more streets than usual.
“Unfortunately, for security reasons, we had to close traffic (on de Maisonneuve) so that cars can’t come too close to the festival site,” Siozios said. “Events around the world forced us to do different measures, so unfortunately people in their cars pay for that.”
Unfortunately, for security reasons, we had to close traffic (on de Maisonneuve) so that cars can’t come too close.