Brownstein: Prolonged parking meter hours are 'unhealthy for everyone'

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That is wealthy: The town of Montreal, after backtracking in April, goes forward on rising hours for parking meters downtown starting Nov. 15. The brand new hours are fairly just like those beforehand introduced, then withdrawn, in April.

The town’s rationale is “to advertise higher visitors on business arteries and thus stimulate the vitality of the downtown space.”

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Significantly?

On the difficulty of selling “higher visitors,” that’s a joke. Metropolis streets are just about strangled nowadays, with development run amok. Visitors couldn’t get a lot “higher.”

As for exciting the vitality of the downtown space, it’s going to probably have the exact opposite impact. There are sufficient constraints already preserving folks away from downtown, this simply stands out as the final straw. There can be a continued exodus to Laval, the South Shore and West Island for procuring, leisure and, oh yeah, free parking. To not point out enterprise and restaurant house owners as nicely.

As of Nov. 15, parking meter adjustments will happen in 5 sectors of the Ville-Marie borough — basically a lot of the downtown core and Previous Montreal. The brand new hours can be Monday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. The Sunday schedule stays unchanged, from 1 p.m. to six p.m.

At current, parking meters are in impact 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday to Friday and 9 a.m. to six p.m. on Saturdays.

The set up of parking meter stickers asserting the change begins this month.

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In an announcement issued Friday, Sophie Mauzerolle, Montreal’s government committee member answerable for transport and mobility stated: “We took the time to fulfill with our downtown companions to current to them the aims of those new measures and to hearken to their feedback. The extension of the priced time slots will, for instance, be extra in step with the opening hours of the assorted companies and cultural establishments and goals not solely to extend turnover, but additionally the supply of on-street parking areas.”

Response was swift.

“I by no means bought consulted,” fumed Costas Dimitriou, proprietor of the favored Sherbrooke St. W. Zante restaurant. “That is unhealthy for everyone. I perceive paid parking in the course of the day, however after 6 p.m., there ought to be no parking charges downtown. That is but one more reason to not go downtown. It’s going to grow to be a ghost city. Apart from some vacationers, there are few coming right here from the outskirts of the town. It’s already costly sufficient to function companies downtown.

“Individuals are going to begin going increasingly to DIX30. They’ve bought all the great eating places and retailers — they usually have tons of free parking.”

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Dimitriou has thought of shifting to extra parking-friendly places on the South Shore.

“Now, even additional South, the place there are palm timber,” he stated.

Crescent St. pub proprietor Ziggy Eichenbaum stated he was by no means consulted in regards to the adjustments, both.

“And I don’t know any downtown service provider who was,” Eichenbaum famous. “I’d actually love to fulfill only one downtown enterprise proprietor who was consulted and who thinks this can be a good concept for exciting enterprise. Guess the town is working out of money, however this gained’t assist in any respect in the long term.

“Folks have been already pissed off, however by extending hours from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m., this may actually have restaurant house owners going: ‘Screw this, we’re going to take our enterprise to DIX30 or Laval.’ This can be a full joke. This isn’t going to carry folks downtown. What are these politicians considering?”

Nor was SDC Montréal centre-ville executive-director Glenn Castanheira a lot amused upon studying of the adjustments.

Requested if he had been consulted by the town, he stated: “Consulted is the improper phrase. We have been knowledgeable of the choice.”

Castanheira doesn’t see these new parking meter hours serving to downtown.

“We’re not satisfied with the arguments of the town,” he stated. “We’ll monitor the state of affairs. We’re actually shocked they’re going forward with this. It offers out a bizarre sign to customers: ‘Come downtown, however on the identical time, we’re going to cost you (9 p.m. to 11 p.m.) for parking, which has by no means been achieved earlier than.’”

Castanheira is somewhat miffed that the downtown core has been notably focused.

“Paradoxically, the Plateau and the Sud-Ouest borough are going to have free parking (from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.), but not downtown. This inequity actually has us much more involved. If these adjustments have been city-wide, it could be one thing else. However I simply don’t get it.”

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