This weekend marks the grand finale of the 2026 UCI Road World Championships, and if you’re planning on driving anywhere near downtown Montreal, Mount Royal or the South Shore, you should start looking for alternatives now.
The elite women’s road bike race runs Saturday, September 26, followed by the elite men’s road race on Sunday, September 27, the two biggest events of the entire championship. Both are expected to draw enormous crowds, and with them, sweeping road closures across seven boroughs plus Westmount.
Mount Royal and downtown are essentially off-limits to cars
Every race in this championship finishes at the foot of Mount Royal on Parc Avenue, between Des Pins and Mont-Royal avenues, which is also hosting most of the race starts and the Fan Village. That stretch of Parc has been closed since early September and won’t reopen until October 4, since organizers built a temporary 200,000-person stadium right on the street.
Road closures for September 26.montreal.ca
The circuit around the mountain also closes Atwater Avenue, Docteur-Penfield Avenue, and Côte-des-Neiges Road, between Docteur-Penfield and Remembrance, along with the punishing Camillien-Houde climb and Côte de Polytechnique. On Saturday, that stretch reopens around 11:30 a.m.; on Sunday, not until 12:15 p.m., since the men’s race runs longer, from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., compared to the women’s 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. window.
Beyond the mountain loop, expect closures throughout Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Plateau-Mont-Royal, Outremont, Ville-Marie, Sud-Ouest, Verdun, Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and Westmount, since the routes cut through all seven of those boroughs at various points over the week. Barriers go up each morning starting at 7 a.m. and streets don’t reopen until competition wraps for the day.
No parking is allowed anywhere along the race routes, and the city says vehicles left behind will be towed.
The South Shore gets hit hard too
Saturday and Sunday are when things get especially messy for anyone commuting between the island and the South Shore. Both elite races start in the Montérégie region, cross the Samuel-De Champlain Bridge, and connect into the Mount Royal circuit downtown.
If you’re driving in from Brossard or the South Shore, free parking is available at the Chevrier lot in Brossard on race weekend, with free shuttles running to the elite race start areas and fan zones. It’s the same setup that’s already been in place on weekdays, including today and tomorrow, September 22 and 23, with shuttles to the REM’s Du Quartier station between 6 and 10 a.m. and 3:30 and 7 p.m.
Public transit is your best bet, but expect detours
The city is telling people to take the Metro over buses this weekend, since several bus routes will be detoured or suspended near the race courses. The REM is also a solid alternative if you’re coming from the South Shore, Laval or the North Shore.
If you’re going to be out and about all week, there’s a special all-access pass, the Titre spécial Mondiaux Cyclisme: Tous modes ABC, valid across zones A, B and C on bus, Metro, train and REM networks from September 19 through September 27 at 11:59 p.m.
The STM has also published a travel guide for those using public transit during the event.
What to do about it
If you can avoid driving through the affected boroughs entirely this weekend, do it. The City of Montreal’s interactive closures map breaks things down day by day, including the location of the seven pedestrian footbridges and vehicle crossing points if you still need to get somewhere. GPS apps are also worth checking for real-time conditions during the event itself.
Heading to a medical appointment this weekend? The city is asking people to build in significant extra travel time and check the map ahead of time, since even essential trips will be affected by the closures.
And if none of that sounds appealing, there’s always the option of just watching the race instead. With hundreds of thousands of spectators expected downtown for the closing weekend, you’ll have plenty of company.
You can find more info on the race and street closures here.
AI tools may have been used to support the creation or distribution of this content; however, it has been carefully edited and fact-checked by a member of MTL Blog’s Editorial team. For more information on our use of AI, please visit our Editorial Standards page.