Downtown parking lot to go

The city is moving forward with plans to remove a busy parking lot off Main Street, according to the Times and Transcript.

Local businesses say they’ll be hurt if the city goes ahead. Council is expected to vote next week on closing the lot to make way for a realignment of Assumption Boulevard. Isabelle LeBlanc, the city’s communications director, says the project has been part of the city’s capital project planning since 2011 and businesses were notified a year ago about plans to get rid of the lot.