Yesterday's demonstrations against the World Trade Organization meeting downtown left many Montrealers angry, frustrated - and late for work.
Daniel Kenney said he was an hour late for work in a photo shop in the Eaton Centre because he didn't know about changes to some bus routes to avoid the protest area.
"I took the 24 bus about 10:20 in the morning and it was packed," he said. "When it was on Sherbrooke, it took a detour, so I got off and walked to work."
The Montreal Transit Corp. has issued an advisory on its Web site - www.stm.info - detailing bus routes that will be detoured through Thursday.
Serge Savard of the MTC said there was "some disruption of the métro's orange line, but ... it was not linked to the protest."
Stefanny La Rivière said her bicycle ride to work at Place Montreal Trust from Point St. Charles took about 40 minutes instead of the usual 20.
"When I reached Peel St., there was a police barricade," she said. "I had to take a long detour - go to Mountain St., up to Sherbrooke St. and then down to Ste. Catherine St. to avoid the blocked area."
But taking the long way around wasn't her only problem.
"I was scared," she said. "It was the first time I saw a barricade of policemen in full gear. I did not see them when I was on René Lévesque Blvd. Then, when I turned the corner on Peel St., the barricade suddenly appeared in front of me.
"I was shocked. My heart started pounding. I thought war was on or something. But I asked the police and they told me it was about the WTO."
Francine Moreau set off from Laval by car about 8 a.m. and had a smooth drive to work at a jewelry store in Place Montreal Trust. The trip took 20 minutes instead of the usual 45, she said.
"Usually there is a lot of traffic at that time of day, but it seems many people knew about the protest downtown and they avoided it," she said. "The streets were empty."
Albert Ruzich was stuck at 9 a.m. on Bishop St., where he had parked his car before going to his store on Ste. Catherine St.
"Police were evicting protesters from the area," he said. "I saw the demonstrators breaking the windows of some stores. I was worried about mine, but not seriously because I knew they were targeting big chains only."
kjayoush@thegazette.canwest.com
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