The City of Montreal is sweetening the free parking arrangement that was announced back in October and went into effect on November 14, when paid parking spots across the city would be free all day on weekends.
As of Tuesday, when Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante made the announcement on Twitter, parking in the downtown area would now be free on weekdays after 6pm, and that's in addition to the free parking across the city on weekends. Both of these will be available to Montrealers (and any out-of-towners who want to take advantage of it) up until December 31.
Normally, evening parking downtown is free after 9pm.
Je suis heureuse d’annoncer que nous étendrons la gratuité du stationnement sur rue au centre-ville les soirs de semaine après 18h et ce, jusqu’au 31 déc. La population aura ainsi plus d’options pour faire son magasinage des Fêtes, en toute sécurité. (1/3) #polmtl pic.twitter.com/LSmxM6oLg5
— Valérie Plante (@Val_Plante) November 17, 2020
"I am happy to announce that we will be extending free on-street parking downtown on weekday evenings after 6 pm until Dec. 31," the mayor wrote. "This will give the population more options to do their holiday shopping in complete safety," mentioning in subsequent tweets that "15-minute drop-offs to (help) facilitate deliveries and take-out orders" for local restaurant support would be set up.
It's all part of the municipal administration's efforts to keep the downtown core supported during what we all hope is a (reasonably and safely) busy holiday season—gift-giving is one of those few pleasure that can enjoy when Montreal's holiday traditions look really different this year.
The only issue is that we here at Time Out Montreal are having difficulty understanding where free parking occurs on weekdays. We'll just have to assume—until we can get further information—that it's free anywhere in the Ville-Marie area which is Guy Street to the west, Sherbrooke to the north, Saint-Antoine West to the south, and Saint-Hubert to the east:
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