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Sean Michael McCaffrey owns a pub in Old Montreal but after managing to keep his business alive through the pandemic, he says it’s only going to get harder with the city’s new parking rules.
Old Montreal is among the areas where motorists are going to have to pay for curbside parking until 11 p.m. And it’s going to cost more.
“More people are going to be inclined to just go somewhere closer to their home,” said McCaffrey, owner of the Pub Wolf and Workman.
“It’s already been a complicated couple of years, so why make it harder for business owners in general?”
Montreal is working to develop alternative modes of transportation to improve mobility in the city, according to spokesperson Karla Duval.
“This new pricing will increase the availability of places and improve mobility in the city centre,” she said in an email.
“Some boroughs are also revising their parking permit management policies to encourage the population to respect neighbourhood capacity.”
Currently, the rate is $4 an hour in Old Montreal. Duval did not say how much the rate increase would be. The city’s Agence de mobilité durable, which manages parking, will “communicate everything at the appropriate time,” she said.
Collecting a parking fare until 11 p.m. is more consistent with the opening hours of bars, restaurants and other attractions, said Duval.
“These new time slots will ensure a rotation of on-street parking spaces,” she said.
The new rate increases and extended pay-parking hours will, for now, target Old Montreal and downtown, but expanding to other areas is being studied, she said.
The new parking signs are already up but not yet in effect. So even if people try to pay until 11 p.m., the meters won’t let them for now.
A spokesperson for Mayor Valérie Plante’s office said it has asked the parking agency to put the operation on hold. In the meantime, the city will speak with business owners and review the pricing process before making a final decision, said Marikym Gaudreault.
“Our priority is economic vitality and consultation with our partners. In this case, steps have clearly been skipped at the administrative level with the installation of stickers,” she said.
Not far from McCaffrey’s pub is The Coldroom. The cocktail bar’s owner, Kevin Demers, said public transportation is not available all night long and he is particularly concerned about staff who work until 3 a.m.
He said many have no choice but to rely on their cars to get home at night.
Demers said once people get a parking spot in Old Montreal, they don’t move. He said upping the price and extending the hours isn’t going to increase parking spot rotation.
As for McCaffrey, he said the city should be doing more to encourage people to visit the city and adding more parking rules is not the way to do that.
“There should be some free days. Saturdays, Sundays at least,” he said. “That could definitely help.”
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