Checkpoints in Gatineau to end Monday
Quebec government says people shouldn't unduly travel into province
Roadside checkpoints installed in Gatineau, Que., to stop travel into and within the Outaouais during the COVID-19 pandemic will be removed Monday, the Quebec government says.
The decision follows recommendations from public health authorities, said a Friday news release from the province.
Police began stopping drivers at bridges and highways across the Outaouais on April 1 to enforce the province's ban on non-essential travel, a measure intended to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
While the checkpoints are coming down, Quebec's Ministry of Public Safety is still urging the public not to see this as an incentive to travel around the region.
The province still wants movement to be limited to only necessary trips.
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson tweeted he was glad the bridges between the two cities will soon reopen.
I am glad the Quebec government has finally announced its decision to open up the border between Ottawa and Gatineau. I still don’t understand what was accomplished but I am pleased that residents on both sides of the river can pass by freely./2
—@JimWatsonOttawaCould still return
Since the pandemic began, 367 people in Outaouais have tested positive for COVID-19 — the vast majority of those cases were in Gatineau — and most have recovered. So far 10 people have died in western Quebec.
If case numbers in the Outaouais go up again, roadside checks could come back, the Quebec government warns.
In addition to the Gatineau checkpoints, checkpoints in the nearby MRC des Collines-de-l'Outaouais between Quebec and Ontario will also be removed May 18.
Elsewhere in the province, checkpoints in Côte-Nord will be lifted June 1, Friday's news release says. Checkpoints in MRC du Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent (Basse-Côte-Nord), Nord-du-Québec, Nunavik as well as Terres-Cries-de-la-Baie-James will continue for the foreseeable future.
