Montreal airport moves to reduce car congestion after traffic backups

Critics want Plante to fix airport traffic mess The opposition at City Hall wants Mayor Valerie Plante to do something about the traffic chaos at the Montreal airport.

The authority overseeing the Montreal airport is rolling out measures to reduce congestion after a post-pandemic surge in car traffic over the summer prompted a wave of frustration among passengers trying to make their gate on time.

Gridlock on the road leading to Trudeau airport routinely pushed passengers to exit their vehicles and haul their bags hundreds of metres to the entrance, with pedestrians on the highway off-ramp becoming a routine site -- particularly in late afternoon and early evening.

The Aeroports de Montreal says that by next summer it will set up two alternative drop-off and pick-up zones to divert car traffic from the airport's main entrance, both served by a five-minute shuttle service for arriving and departing travellers.

In an interview, CEO Yves Beauchamp said parking will also be free for roughly 40 minutes within a four-hour window between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., when flights butt up against afternoon rush hour.

A new airport parking lot hosting 2,800 spots is also set to open early next year, while ramped-up public bus service from the city centre aims to thin out the number of cars.

The measures come after Montreal's public transit authority scrambled to find detours for its 747 airport shuttle last summer and the airport authority added a third free parking area, traffic-control staff and a new Uber service pick-up area, but the bottlenecks persisted.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2023.