Montreal’s Trudeau airport braces for more traffic chaos ahead of spring break
Global News
Montreal's airport authority is urging travellers to prepare for further traffic headaches amid a major airport revamp and the demolition of a parking garage.
The vehicle traffic around Montréal Trudeau International Airport has been a source of frustration in recent years, prompting passengers at times to haul their suitcases on foot along the roadway to avoid missing flights.
Now, Montreal’s airport authority is urging travellers to prepare for further traffic headaches as the busy spring break season lands amid a major airport revamp and the demolition of a parking garage.
Airport spokesperson Anne-Sophie Hamel says some 58,000 passengers are expected to travel through the airport each day over the next 10 days or so. And while that number is a little less than last year — due to the cancellation of flights to Cuba over fuel shortages — she said travellers will need to be patient.
“We are fully aware that it’s more difficult coming to the airport, so that’s why we’re … asking people really to prepare their trip,” she said in an interview Thursday.
The surge in traffic comes as the airport is demolishing a parking garage, resulting in thousands fewer parking spots and more cars in main drop-off zones.
Hamel says the airport has added two alternative pickup and drop-off areas with shuttle service to the terminal, and is urging travellers to reserve parking spots in advance and arrive at least three hours early for their flights.
While the airport has installed the extra drop-off zones as a mitigation measure, Hamel says the fundamental problem is that the airport’s infrastructure is at capacity. “Our main drop off was built for a number way less than the number of passengers that we receive every day and every year,” she said.
The airport will open new permanent drop-off zones by 2028 as part of a 10-year, $10-billion plan to increase passenger capacity and reconfigure the access points to the airport, she said.
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Montreal's airport authority is urging travellers to prepare for further traffic headaches amid a major airport revamp and the demolition of a parking garage.
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