Montreal commuters impacted by La Fontaine Tunnel partial closures

South Shore teacher Joe Cefaratti’s mornings are starting earlier.

The three-year partial closure of La Fontaine Tunnel at the end of October means Cefaratti and many others commuting from the Island of Montreal to the South Shore must now rely on shuttles to get to and from work or sit in traffic jams.

For those who choose to use the free park-and-ride shuttles set up by the Quebec government and local transit agencies, they say they’re having trouble finding parking.

Radisson Metro Parking station (Photo Credit: Felisha Adam)

“Right now there’s quite a few people with lights on in the car, staying in the car…there’s already very few parking spots left,” says Cefaratti, who gets to the Radisson Metro Station at six in the morning, to make sure he has a parking spot.

“It’s a typical morning,” he says, “6:15 a.m., 6:25 a.m. and there is no spots left.”

800 parking spots were added to South Shore park-and-ride bringing a total of parking spaces up to 2,400. Yet, at the Radisson Metro, the opposite happened: over 100 parking spaces were taken away to make space for a new bus terminus. MTQ tells CityNews that there was a removal of exactly 185 parking spaces, “necessary for the development of the new temporary platforms at the Radisson terminus,”

New bus terminus, which now takes away over 100 parking spaces (Photo credit: Felisha Adam)

“It feels like Montreal got the short end of the stick once again,” Cefaratti says, as he walks to the free shuttle. “This used to be parking, approximately 120 spots,” he points.

For Cefaratti and others doing the same commute, the situation is “frustrating.”

There are no complaints, however, about the shuttle itself. “The service is fantastic,” Cefaratti mentions. He says, “They’re not making it easy for people like me who want to take the bus.”

Joe Cefaratti in the free shuttle headed to the South Shore (Photo credit: Felisha Adam)

Quebec’s transport Ministry tells CityNews at the moment “options are being studied to compensate for the removal of the 185 parking spaces,” on the Island of Montreal.

“It’s not a good feeling,” he says. If Cefaratti is unable to make it to Radisson’s free parking by 6 a.m., he is forced to park 15 to 20 minutes away. “With winter coming, I’m really not looking forward to this,” he says, shaking his head.

#WATCH: “20 minutes,” is how long Reijane Sousa, says she had to walk to get the free shuttle to the South Shore this morning, after she couldn’t find parking at the Radisson Metro Station – all due to the partial closure of the La Fontaine Tunnel.

READ: https://t.co/DlU89CjIwr pic.twitter.com/4FlFyaB2Nf

— CityNews Montreal (@CityNewsMTL) November 14, 2022

Reijane Sousa, Cefaratti’s colleague is also in agreement, while she describes the shuttle as allowing her to “take a rest from [La Fontaine Tunnel].”

This morning she had to find street parking outside of Radisson’s parking. “I walked today, in this cold,” Sousa said.

Cefaratti says, the city’s lack of planning in situations like these do not help incentivize programs like the free shuttle.

“They’ve had years to plan for this and absolutely nothing was done.”

While he’ll be retiring soon, Cefaratti is not looking forward to his daily commute as colder temperatures approach.

“My last two years of teaching will be done partially in my car, waiting for the bus in the mornings, making sure I have parking spots, and certain days I’ll be walking 15 to 20 minutes to get to the terminus that they tell us to use, but don’t make it easy for us, so that’s a little disappointing.”