Montreal's new Royalmount mega-mall only has paid parking and it's not going over well

Located at the intersection of Autoroutes 15 (Décarie) and 40 (Métropolitaine), Royalmount opened the doors to its vast luxury mega-mall last week. While the glamorous unveiling has left the city buzzing with excitement, one of the shopping centre's features has not been generating as much enthusiasm: parking fees.

Over the past week or so, customers have discovered that Royalmount only offers paid parking on-site. This means that if you drive to Royalmount, you'll have to pull out your wallet before you can even think about browsing Rennaï, Michael Kors, Versace, Jimmy Choo or Canada Goose.

This is just the latest drama surrounding vehicle access to Royalmount, as concerns grow over its impact on an already chaotic traffic situation in the fast-developing area. That said, the complex is also directly connected to De la Savane metro station via an enclosed 200-metre pedestrian bridge — a route you might want to consider once you hear about the parking rates.

Expect to pay $2.50 for a very short visit of 30 minutes to an hour, per the Royalmount website. For every additional hour you spend shopping, that's $5 less in your bank account. For a three- to four-hour shopping trip, you're looking at $12.50 to $17.50 for parking.

These financial details have caused quite a stir on Royalmount's social media platforms.

"Do we really have to pay for parking when customers come to spend money and enjoy the stores and restaurants? People with reduced mobility, who travel by car to enjoy the Royalmount experience, also have to pay when access to the site will already be a challenge? It's really deplorable [...] especially as the target clientele is largely middle-class and affluent people who travel and have access to stores abroad without having to pay for parking," wrote one Internet user, originally in French, commenting on a Royalmount Facebook post.

Another Facebook user suggests parking at the Namur metro station and then walking to the destination.

"Honestly, it's next door to my house, but I'd still go to [CF Carrefour] Laval... paid parking ?!" wrote an Instagram user in the comments section of a Royalmount post, originally in French. "I can't access it on foot or via the metro so I have to pay for parking to shop [...] Makes no sense."

When asked for a comment, Royalmount developer Carbonleo said their team prioritized promoting "active transportation."

"Sustainable development is an important pillar of Royalmount [...]. We, therefore, wish to encourage sustainable transportation, particularly with a covered footbridge we built at a cost of $50 million, which connects our site to the metro's orange line," said Carbonleo CEO Andrew Lutfy, who's also Royalmount's lead investor, in a written statement sent to Narcity Québec.

In addition, the firm indicated that several boutiques are expected to offer an hour of free parking to customers who make purchases.

In case you didn't know, the first phase of Royalmount consists of an 824,000-square-foot retail and lifestyle complex spread across two levels where you can find popular stores — such as Uniqlo, Dynamite, Zara, Sports Experts or Nike — but also high-end brands and a food hall. You can find a list of the brands available to discover at Royalmount here.

This story was adapted from the article "Le stationnement du méga centre commercial Royalmount est payant et ça passe mal," which was originally published on Narcity Québec by Josianne Desjardins.