The Ottawa interim police chief shared the full route for the Rolling Thunder motorcycle ride on Saturday, one of a series of demonstrations expected in the capital this weekend.
About 500 motorcycles are expected to board in the city on Friday for a series of events reminiscent of the Freedom Convoy protest in February.
The trip on Saturday will leave the St. Laurent is around 10:45 a.m. and will cross the city center on Highway 417. The entire route has been designated as a non-stop area, interim chief Steve Bell told reporters Thursday.
Rolling Thunder events are scheduled for Friday to Sunday, and police have promised that the event will not be a repeat of the three-week occupation of the city center earlier this year.
“The community expects us to deal with this in a different way by being more responsive and proactive to ensure that it does not extend,” Bell told CTV News at noon on Thursday. “We’re doing this.”
Residents are told to expect an increased police presence in the city center and ByWard Market areas, while a no-go zone will be set up to stop all motor vehicles participating in rallies, protests or demonstrations.
The area stretches from Waller Street to Bronson Avenue and Wellington Street to Laurier Avenue, along with the ByWard Market area from MacKenzie Avenue to King Edward Avenue and Rideau Street to Murray Street.
However, the roads are not closed. Police said the roads will remain open for residential and business traffic, pedestrians, cyclists and OC Transpo. Police are still encouraging people to visit businesses in the center.
“City barricades, heavy equipment, police officers and police vehicles will be at various controlled access points around vehicle exclusion zones to filter out legal traffic in and around and around these streets,” Bell said.
.RCMP and OPP officers will be stationed in Ottawa, along with municipal police officers.
Ottawa police shared the full planned route for the Rolling Thunder motorcycle ride on Saturday.
A full itinerary has been revealed
The convoy of motorcyclists is scheduled to arrive on Friday, with a rally and procession scheduled for Parliament Hill at 6 p.m.
Most of the events are scheduled for Saturday, including the Veterans of Freedom service at the National War Memorial and a rally and march on Parliament’s hill.
Bell said motorcyclists plan to gather in an unspecified area of Coventry Road on Saturday morning to walk around the city. They plan to leave there around 10:45 a.m., driving north on Vanier Parkway, turning onto Montreal Road and merging with Rideau Street.
They will then turn south onto Waller Street and then head to the Mackenzie King Bridge. After crossing the bridge, they will turn south on Elgin Street and then east on Laurier Avenue West. Finally, they will turn onto Nicholas Street and merge with Highway 417.
This route takes them within several blocks of the National War Memorial, a focal point for protesters, where some will already be gathering on foot. But vehicles will not be allowed to park there.
The entire route is defined as a non-stop area. Officers will be on the route, directing traffic and ensuring that motorcyclists “leave the area safely and expeditiously with the least possible impact on residents,” Bell said.
Bell said police also have a plan in case people don’t follow their directions to move.
He did not specify the location on Coventry Road, where motorcyclists plan to gather.
“We are not committed to any coordination of the event. The information we have is that the organizers plan to gather in and around this area,” he said.
But social media reports say motorcyclists plan to gather at the St. Louis Mall. Laurent.
CTV News approached Morguard, which owns the mall, for comment on the possibility of motorcyclists gathering there.
“Ensuring safe and enjoyable shopping for our guests is our top priority,” a spokesman said in response. “The shopping center St. Laurent is open to customers this weekend.
During protests in February, protesters set up a long-term camp at Coventry Road Baseball Stadium. Bell said police would work to ensure that this did not happen again.
“We will not tolerate any illegal activity that shows any long-term occupation of any part of our city,” he said. “We will be very responsive and very proactive in identifying and eliminating any circumstances like this.”
The mayor “much more confident”
Bell said the February occupation of the center had changed community expectations about the way police handled protests. Ottawa has dealt with hundreds of protests in one year, but the occupation has displaced police response, he said.
“What you see is that we are taking a much more active position on how we manage people in and around the city center,” he said.
“We know that there has been a gap in trust between our community and the police service as a result of the occupation in February,” Bell said, adding that police are focused on developing a plan that takes into account community concerns.
“We believe this is what we have developed,” he said. “Our hope is that … we will begin to restore that trust with our community because it is vital to us.”
In parts of the center that are not covered by the exclusion zone, where protesters will not be allowed, there will be no restrictions on parking and stopping, as well as an increased police presence to reassure residents, Bell said.
Mayor Jim Watson said on Thursday that he felt much more confident of the planned response by police and the city to the protest.
I feel much more confident today with the available plan and the preparatory work undertaken by the police and our various departments to help slowly but surely restore public confidence that when such events occur in time, the groundwork – and they will they do – we are better prepared to deal with it. “
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