What's closed on Day 6 of the downtown Ottawa protest

As a protest with vehicles taking up blocks of downtown Ottawa continues, the area's major mall closes for the rest of the week and museums are staying shut despite being allowed to reopen under updated pandemic rules.

City officials continueto advise people to avoid non-essential travel, especially downtown. Museums, the Rideau Centre and some city services arealso closed or reducing operationsfor the time being.

These are some of the local services affected.

Museums

The Canadian Museums of History, Nature and War havedelayedreopening by a week, along with the National Gallery of Canada.

They wereset to open Wednesday after the Ontario government loosened restrictions for indoor venues, but will remain closed until Wednesday, Feb. 9. Some citeproblems accessing the buildingsand potential security concerns related to the protest.

The agriculture, aviation and science museums are farther away from downtown and open.

Libraries

Two of theOttawa Public Library's downtown branches are also closed Wednesday.

The Main branch at120 Metcalfe St. and theRideau branch at 377 Rideau St. will remain closed for now.

The library says some of the closest branches to the downtown are the St-Laurent library at515 CtSt., Vanier at310Pres-BlancsAve., Sunnyside at1049 Bank St. and Rosemount at18 RosemountAve.

Shopping

The Rideau Centre closed early on Saturday after it was overrun with maskless patrons defying provincial rules for indoor spaces. A notice on the mall's website says it will remain closed for the rest of the week.

Other businesses have also chosen to close.

Ottawa City Hall

Municipal servicesat city hall, its parking garage and the Rink of Dreams will remain closed Wednesday, while the Service Ontario centre inside the buildingwill be open to pre-booked appointments.

Waste and recycling

The city says it does not anticipate the protest will disrupt garbage and recycling collection.

City-owned garbage and recyclingcontainers on the side of some downtown streets are being emptiedwhen possible, the city says.

Childcare

TheSt. Luke's Child Care Centre at city hall and Centre ducatif Pinocchioat 111 Sussex Dr. are both open Wednesday.

Transit

OC Transpo bus routes into the downtown will continue to be detoured around congested areas. Residents are urged to check OC Transpo'sTwitter account or alerts website.

Para Transpo continues to operate in the downtown core. The city's transit director says"staff are making every effort to get to customers."

The Confederation Line will continue to run through the downtown core.

Only theSocit de transport de l'Outaouais(STO)'s Route 400 is crossing into Ottawa.

Snow clearing

Ottawa is expected to receive between seven to 16 centimetres of snow by Friday morning. The city says it does not expect disruptions tosnow clearing operations.

Vaccine clinics

Ottawa Public Health says itsUniversity of Ottawa COVID-19 vaccine clinic will reopen Wednesday after being closed since Jan. 28 because oftraffic disruptions in the area fromthe ongoing park-in protest against pandemic rules.

TheLowertown Public Health Neighbourhood Vaccination Hub, which was also closed at the end of last week, will reopen as scheduled on Wednesday.