Dentist unhappy with parking situation
Montreal dentist Terence Yacovitch is in the Gazette on Thursday, talking to Bill Brownstein about how his patients don’t have easy access to his practice any more, between road work, installation of a new bike path, and inevitable reduction in parking spaces. He says he’s losing his clients because they can’t get to his office any more.
Yacovitch’s practice is on Mont‑Royal at Esplanade. I’ve never found it hard to get to. If you’re looking for a good dentist, go see either of the two Doctors Yacovitch (father and daughter) – they’re great.
Blork 11:14 on 2026-04-02 Permalink
He’s been my dentist for more than 25 years. He has performed miracles inside the choas of my mouth.
Besides removing the parking spots for a bike path, they also built a median in the middle of the street, separating east and west bound traffic. But that median is completely unnecessary and makes no sense at all. A median for a median’s sake, and you can see that it’s failing because they need to mark it with cones because so many cars and snow plows were cracking into it in winter when it’s hard to see, especially since it doesn’t even go in a straight line.
I was there last week and took a photo of the median: https://www.blork.org/pix/median-mont-royal.jpg
Joey 11:23 on 2026-04-02 Permalink
The construction on that stretch was a total disaster last year (and is about to start up again) – days upon days of nothing happening, shoddy work leading up to winter that has been documented here. But at least that’s somewhat temporary and kind of understandable, since the underground infrastructure needed to be completely replaced. What’s worse is the street design, which seems totally insane for that stretch – all kinds of easy-to-miss concrete medians that have shrunk the lanes so that trucks and buses struggle to get through, and there is no room for anyone to stop a vehicle between St-Urbain and Parc, which is critical for the small independent businesses located on that stretch. There just isn’t room for a REV-style bike lane on both sides of the street. I know connecting the Cote-Ste-Catherine bike path to St-Urbain was a priority for the city, but there were much more viable alternatives, i.e., improving the existing paths on Villeneuve or Laurier. I guess we’ll wait and see what the finished product looks like, but it definitely feels like Projet Montreal at its absolute worst.
Also, this is insane: “As for the gripe regarding poor delivery access for many merchants in the area, Norris’s plan is to create a new delivery zone on the other side of Mont-Royal next to the Maxi store.”
Joey 11:31 on 2026-04-02 Permalink
I assume they had to put the median in because the lanes are so narrow that you can’t just rely on drivers staying on their side of the line. For years there has been an issue with drivers headed north toward Mt-Royal on Esplanade ignoring the signs indicating that only a right turn is permitted (if you’re headed west from there, you basically have to continue along Mt-Royal to Clark or St-Laurent and turn on Villeneuve or head south down-St-Urbain until Pine); no matter what they installed – planters, big yellow and black signs, etc. – drivers would always find a way to make an illegal left turn, hence the median (though as your pic shows, there’s ample room for drivers to try some BS)… They should’ve put the south-side bike lane in the park. Also, in summer tour buses and event buses usually park there, no idea where they’ll go now.
mare 11:43 on 2026-04-02 Permalink
He’s my dentist too, and I always go there by bike, rain or shine. That said, the bike path is fine but apparently they started building it without any forewarning and it took way longer than expected (as it always does) because they found unexpected (as they always do) problems underneath the road bed.
Like @Blork wrote the median is also weird and a very unusual road feature in Montreal for a narrow road, just to force traffic from Jeanne-Mance and De l‘Esplanade to turn West. Hard to see after a recent snowfall because it appears to be just a little remnant of a passing snowplough. I can see cars (but also cyclists) trying to barge through and be unpleasantly surprised.
Ian 11:57 on 2026-04-02 Permalink
His daughter was my kids’ dentist until they were old enough to see my dentist, who doesn’t treat kids. I live in the area though so we just walk over.
The few times I ever drove I would just park at the Provigo a block away (shhh) and do groceries while the kids hot their teeth cleaned.
I know finding parking is tricky in Mile End and acknowledge that the roadwork on Mont Royal has been oerplexing, but I find it hard to accept that Yacovitch is bleeding patients.
Nicholas 12:38 on 2026-04-02 Permalink
It’s great to see that in this laïque season of remembrance and togetherness we can have Blork criticizing a PM project and Ian saying it’s fine. And apparently this entire blog goes to this dental practice. What a wondrous thing Kate has created. Praise be.
Kate 12:47 on 2026-04-02 Permalink
I don’t know whether mare and Blork recommended Dr. Y to each other, but I didn’t hear about him from either. A non‑blog friend who lived near his practice recommended him to me.
Blork 13:15 on 2026-04-02 Permalink
It appears that Yacovitch Dental is the central mass around which the Montreal City Weblog revolves.
GC 13:44 on 2026-04-02 Permalink
I can’t imagine I’d give up a good dentist just because of difficult parking. (Back when I owned a car, I mean…) Maybe because I generally only need to go twice a year, anyway. I suppose if you have children or special needs, it might be more often?
GC 13:51 on 2026-04-02 Permalink
Actually, I see now it’s about accessibility and not just parking. Different considerations!
Thierry 16:16 on 2026-04-02 Permalink
My wife and I have been patients of Dr Yac and his crew for over 38 years .. I am a cane user these days, my wife uses a walker.. this last year has been hard for both of us to see the doctor and his hygienist… yes that construction project makes absolutely no sense. I was an urban planner, my wife a social worker. We live two blocks away from Dr Yacovitch.. but Mountain Royal is our “barrier” to direct access! Who thought up this new layout? Dangerous for all of we who are not agile! Yes dangerous with bikes flashing past with no respect for we oldsters! The city authorities must please return our neighborhood to its old charm and SAFETY!!
Meezly 17:01 on 2026-04-02 Permalink
My daughter sees Dr Katy Yacovitch because my dentist doesn’t treat kids under 12. I knew it might’ve been a factor, but had no idea the clinic has lost so many patients due to the road construction and the current state of Ave Mont-Royal. We live within walking distance so never had to think about parking. I’ll be mindful about referring neighbourhood acquaintances to this clinic as well!
It’s a shame. As a cyclist, I use that part of Mont-Royal Ave a fair amount and do find it safer now with the new bike paths, esp going east when so many cars are turning right onto St-Urbain. But I understand this is not ideal for less mobile pedestrians.
I also noticed STM removed the eastbound bus stop near Jeanne-Mance. This means that northbound passengers disembarking the 80 at the corner will now need to cross the Ave du Parc intersection to catch their bus. Buses rarely wait even when they see passengers getting off the other bus and are obviously needing to make a connection.
Anton 18:23 on 2026-04-02 Permalink
Not every one on this blog. Never knew this dentist, mines not far on the south side of that park in the Transat building.
Meezly 20:06 on 2026-04-02 Permalink
The Venus Flowers’ story seems incomplete. The article reported that they “had a staggering financial loss of 85 per cent over the same period”, but never mentioned the owner had converted half the front section of the shop to an ice cream parlour (Vache Glacée) and opened it right after the road construction barriers were put up!
At the time I thought it was terrible timing, as clearly the owner was hoping to attract people from Parc Jeanne-Mance/Mont-Royal, but with the barriers you couldn’t cross the street easily! There was also established competition with nearby Dairy Queen and super popular Iconoglace. So was the “staggering loss” purely a result of the roadwork situation, or partly due to a bad business decision converting half your flower shop to an ice cream counter?
With Beauty’s, I haven’t been there in over a decade as their food is mediocre and overpriced. If I want a good breakfast I go a little further to Bagel Etc. Beauty’s clientele seems to be made up primarily of nostalgic former-Plateau types driving in from the suburbs, or tourists. I don’t know anyone living in the Plateau who go to Beauty’s very regularly because there are so many other better breakfast/lunch options in the area. No wonder their business is now taking a hit.
Joey 09:43 on 2026-04-03 Permalink
@Meezly, I had a long chat with John at Venus a couple of months ago. The huge drop in business has nothing to do with the ice cream shop and everything to do with the fact that his store was dead centre in the middle of a major construction site. He’s not the only one – all the shops on that stretch of Mount-Royal suffered – so far I think only the relatively new taco place has closed.
Your assessment of Beauty’s fair enough (though the fare is pretty decent, if a little pricey and not as charming IMO as Bagel Etc – but certainly better than, say, Allo Mon Coco or l’Oeufrier in the area), but they have been packed for decades. Anyway, the city seems to have gone out of its way to make it functionally impossible for them to receive deliveries, which is completely insane.
Meezly 10:32 on 2026-04-03 Permalink
@Joey, thanks for clarifying. A third of my houseplants are from Venus, it’s usually my go to place not only because it’s close by but their prices are reasonable compared to other plant shops in the area.
Kate 14:01 on 2026-04-03 Permalink
Do you know if they have hypoestes, Meezly?
Meezly 14:48 on 2026-04-03 Permalink
I’m pretty sure I saw them last year, but don’t know about now. I’d give them a call to be sure.