MISSISSAUGA – Approximately 100,000 people are expected to pack Celebration Square in Mississauga on Canada Day but those planning to drive will have a hard time finding a place to park.
“It’s crazy,” Mississauga resident Reja Afridi said.
She and her sister, Amna, tried to attend the event last year but weren’t able to find parking.
“We didn’t even bother going in,” she said.
Instead they parked on the upper level of a parking lot at Square One across the street and just watched the events unfold.
“On the way back, we actually stayed there until all the traffic was gone,” she said.
But this year a portion of the parking lot is closed for mall expansion. The construction has eaten away several hundred spaces that revelers used last year.
“We left at like 2 a.m,” Amna said. “This year we will take the bus.”
The road closures will keep the public from using the parking lot immediately underneath Celebration Square.
There are 309 parking spaces available at the Living Arts Centre, but the public will only be able to enter that lot until the 7:00 p.m. street closures take effect.
Those who have parked in the lot before then, will be able to exit after the street closure.
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Organizers of the event are making a similar suggestion that people take public transit.
“It is limited parking in the downtown core for Canada Day,” Karen Ferreira, the supervisor of events and promotions for Mississauga Celebration Square said. “We do encourage our residents to come to the square by taking MiWay transit, carpooling, getting dropped off.”
A MiWay representative said in an email there will be 13 routes servicing the city centre transit terminal on Canada Day.
Some routes service Celebration Square directly and some will require passengers to walk the short distance from the terminal, near Square One.
For traffic control and safety reasons, there will be road closures around Celebration Square.
The following streets will be closed from 12 pm to 11:30 pm, July 1:
Burnhamthorpe Rd. W, from Hurontario to Confederation parkway.
Living Arts Drive from Burnhamthorpe Rd. W, to Prince of Wales Drive
Kariya Gate, from Burnhamthorpe Rd. W, to City Centre Dr.
The following streets will be closed from 7 pm to 11:30 pm:
Duke of York Blvd from Prince of Wales Dr. To Burhamthorpe Rd. W
Princess Royal Dr., from Living Arts Dr. To Duke of York Blvd.
City Centre Dr., from Living Arts Dr. To Duke of York Blvd.
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