Frequently asked questions

✅ Live data. The obstructions shown come near real-time from the Ville de Montréal open data portal, the MTQ provincial network (Québec 511) (incidents, highway work zones, photo radars, traffic cameras) and, in British Columbia, DriveBC. Citizen reports are shared among all visitors via Supabase. Your province is remembered — switch it from the site header.

What is the road obstructions map? ▸

It's a driving map that gathers street closures, lane reductions, traffic restrictions and events disrupting traffic in Greater Montréal (Montréal, Laval, Longueuil, North Shore and South Shore). The goal: see at a glance where things are blocked, when, and by whom.

Where does the data come from? ▸

Ville de Montréal obstructions are downloaded directly in your browser from the City's open data portal (two CSV files: work permits and street-level impacts, geocoded by borough). Live traffic (incidents, work zones, photo radars, cameras) comes from the official WFS of MTQ — Québec 511, and British Columbia road events from DriveBC. Citizen reports are stored in a Supabase database and shared among all visitors. Sources in preparation:

Other provinces' 511 services (Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba…) — waitlist available
JCCBI — Jacques-Cartier and Champlain bridges
Cities of Laval and Longueuil

The "Source: live / demo" button switches to the local demo dataset (js/data.js).

How do I search a street or an area? ▸

Use the search field above the obstruction list. It searches titles, streets, boroughs, descriptions and impacts. The search ignores accents — "mont-royal" finds "Avenue du Mont-Royal".

What do the marker colors mean? ▸

Red — road closed or major obstruction (including pedestrian streets)
Orange — lane affected or reduced
Teal — seasonal pedestrian street
Purple — event (race, festival, demonstration)

How do I filter by date? ▸

The "When" menu offers three options: Ongoing (obstructions active today), Upcoming (announced but not started yet) and All dates (includes past obstructions). The "relevance" sort brings active obstructions ending soon to the top.

How do I report an obstruction? ▸

Click "Report an obstruction" in the header. Fill in the title, street or intersection, type and, ideally, GPS coordinates (format 45.5416, -73.5673). Your report is published in the shared database (Supabase) and appears immediately for everyone, tagged "Citizen report". Offensive reports can be hidden by the site administrator.

How do I share a specific obstruction? ▸

Each obstruction has a direct link: add #entrave=ID to the site address (e.g.: index.html#entrave=parc-fermeture-uci). Opening that link centers the map on the obstruction and automatically opens its detail card.

Can I use the map on mobile? ▸

Yes. Below 860 px width, the map moves to the top of the screen and the list below it. The 📍 button centers the map on your location (with your permission).

Is this site official? ▸

No. It is a demonstration clone for educational purposes, not affiliated with the Ville de Montréal, MTQ, JCCBI or cestdejalenfer.ca. For official information, see montreal.ca/entraves-travaux.