“High security” fences began to be installed around the Palais des Congrès on Monday, in view of the 15e Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the Convention on Biological Diversity, which will welcome between 10,000 and 15,000 delegates in Montreal from December 7 to 19.
Posted at 1:26 p.m.
Updated at 2:23 p.m.
On the way from The Press, Monday morning, workers were busy assembling the first pieces of what will soon be the protective perimeter in downtown Montreal. All week, automobile and cyclist traffic will therefore be blocked on avenue Viger, between boulevard Saint-Laurent and rue Hermine.
The authorities also invite the population to avoid the area as much as possible, the time to carry out the work. Note: a delivery and handling zone is however maintained between the Saint-Laurent and Saint-Urbain axes.
Philippe Sabourin, administrative spokesperson for the City, said he expected the installation of the barriers to be completed “Friday at the end of the day, if the weather is nice”. “Then, as planned, we can restore a lane to traffic, and reopen the bike path,” he said. This week, the Réseau express vélo (REV) located on rue Viger will indeed be diverted from rue Berri.
Since Monday, the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) has also temporarily suspended certain stops on lines 55, 129, 361, 363 and 365. “At the request of the authorities”, the Place-d’Armes station will also be closed. from 1er to December 20 “for security reasons”. On the rest of the orange line, trains will run normally.
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The SPVM will be present
About twenty patrol officers from the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) were on site at the start of the day to manage traffic. “Traffic was quite fluid on René-Lévesque and Saint-Antoine,” explained Mr. Sabourin. The police will be present. They are also there to help people who need access to a landing stage, for example, or to manage traffic lights. »
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Remember that these large fences will eventually cut off one traffic lane on each of the streets surrounding the meeting place, including the Viger, Saint-Urbain, Saint-Antoine axes, as well as Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle. It will therefore be necessary to provide, here again, for complete closures, followed by closures of one lane.
A public notice from the City published Monday specifies that after the five-day work on rue Viger – phase 1 of the process – work on Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle will take about two days, then five days on Saint-Antoine, two days in Saint-Urbain and two more on De La Gauchetière, Chenneville and Côté streets. In total, the operation should therefore last a little more than two weeks. “The fences will be equipped with several entrances thus allowing access to the sidewalks in the fenced area”, assures the municipal administration.
Events in sight
The Anti-Capitalist and Ecologist Coalition against COP15, for its part, called on Monday to “block the event”, judging that the COP “aims to make us believe that our elected officials have their hands on the wheel, when they are making no effort “.
This group is particularly strongly opposed to the conversion of 30% of the earth’s surface into protected areas, which, according to him, is part of “a colonial perspective where the indigenous peoples who have inhabited the territory for millennia are forcibly expelled”. It also challenges the involvement of the private sector in the signing of international agreements on biodiversity, via the Responsible Business Commitment Program.
So far, more than 6,500 students have given themselves a strike mandate, from December 7 to 9, in order to demonstrate near the Palais des Congrès. According to the coalition, “several other general strike assemblies are organized in various CEGEPs and universities throughout the province”. Other associations could therefore join the movement in the coming days. The COP15 collective is also organizing a large gathering on December 10.