Renovation of the rue Sainte-Catherine: A “nightmare” for traders

SARAH DAOUST-BRAUN/24 HOURS/QMI AGENCY

QMI agency

Monday, 5 February 2018 16:47

UPDATE
Monday, 5 February 2018 16:50

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One month after the beginning of the first phase of the renovation of the rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest, at Montreal, of the merchants feel that the City does not comply with its promises to do everything in his power to avoid scaring off customers.

• READ ALSO: Work on Sainte-Catherine: a website to help the traders

“It is a bit of a nightmare. […] It’s been almost a year that I am on the committee of good neighbourly relations with the Ste-Catherine street, we are talking about what comes next, that one speaks of the measures we will take to reduce the losses at the level of the goodwill. There is absolutely nothing that has been done in the way that it was explained”, told TVA News Thomas Lipovac, director of operations at Antoine Laoun opticien, of which a branch is located in the heart of the work.

According to Mr. Lipovac, signs “Sidewalk strikethrough” have been installed, suggesting to passers-by that the businesses are inaccessible. During this time, his trade will have to pay close to $ 20,000 more in taxes this year.

The first phase of the work refers to the section between the streets Of Bleury and Mansfield. The City will tackle then the segment between Mansfield and Atwater.