Downtown merchants brace for construction on Ste-Catherine Street

Major renovations to downtown Montreal's Ste-Catherine Street are set to begin Monday, and merchants are hoping they can survive a year of construction outside their storefronts.

"I'm not happy at all. I feel helpless," said Phil Iachino, manager of Chaussures Berti, a shoe store on Ste-Catherine Street near the intersection of Bleury Street.

The work that gets underway on Monday, Jan. 8 is the first phase of a five-year plan to give the downtown artery a facelift over 2.2 kilometres.

The first phase involves replacing the water and sewer pipes between Bleury and Manfieldstreets. This is expected to take until 2019 to complete.

Iachinoadmits the street requires a "much-needed facelift,"but he's not sure if his store, which has been open for 25 years, could survive a year of construction work.

"If you don't make money, if you don't break even someone still has to pay the bills, pay suppliers, pay employees. No one wants to be a business losing money."

The city says it's looking at possible ways to compensate merchants. That could includetax breaks.

City councillorRobert Beaudry said the city wants to avoid repeating what happened on St-Denis Street, when businesses struggled and some even shut down during years of renovation work there.

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"We have to focus on the project, take it step by step and make sure we consult everybody," Beaudry said.

Heated sidewalks?

The initial project for Ste-Catherine Street, which was proposed three years ago under the administration of former mayor Denis Coderre, had a much bigger scope.

The plan included pedestrian-friendly measures such as heated sidewalks and an inflatable, moveable tunnel.

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Beaudry said those things are still being reassessed.

"We want the taxpayer, Montrealers, to feel like it is worth the investment. Every dollar is important to this investment."

Once the first phase is complete next year, crews will then tackle the section of the street near Phillips Square in 2020, followed by the stretch of Ste-Catherine Street up to Atwater Avenue.

Ultimately, thegoal is to revamp the length of Ste-Catherine Street, all the way totheQuartier des Spectacles fromAtwater Avenue.