No more through traffic over Mount Royal starting this weekend

If you regularly drive over Mount Royal from one end to the other, today is the last chance to use that route for the next five months.

The city's pilot project, closing a section ofCamillien-HoudeWay and Remembrance Road, will start officially June 2.

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The 550-metre-longstretch that will be closed to through traffic will only be available tocyclists and tocity, school and tourist buses, along with emergency vehicles and funeral processions.

All other vehicles will be forced to stop at the Smith House parking lotif they're travelling from the east and at the Beaver Lake parking lot, coming from the west.

The move has sparkedcriticism, with some drivers saying they won't be able to access the mountain as easily.

The711 bus service, a modified version of the 11 bus service, which runs betweenSnowdonMetro in the west and St-Joseph Boulevard atChristophe-ColombAvenueduring the summer, will startthree weeks earlier than usual.

From June 2 to June 17, the bus will operate only on weekends. Starting June 18, the summer bus will run seven days a week.

There will also be two new stops, at theNotre-Dame-des-NeigesCemeteryand at a newly announced rest areacalled theBelvdreSoleil.

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Both theMount Royal Cemetery and theNotre-Dame-des-NeigesCemeteryhave posteddirections online, advising driversto use the alternative entrances onde laFretRoad andCte-des-NeigesRoad, respectively.

On the city's website, the project is billed as an attempt to protect "the inestimable natural and cultural heritage that Mount Royal represents," as well as to improveaccessibility and safety.