St-Denis construction understood by merchants, city says

A Saint-Denis Street merchant may have jumped into a hole as a protest for the road work going on, but a top city politician insists most other businesses are behind the construction.

"Everyone understands that infrastructure work needs to be done. We need to maintain the level of quality of the road," said Lionel Perez, a city councillor and president of the planning and development committee.

On Thursday, a man had to be rescued from a hole in the street after falling in. Police said he mayhave jumped in on purpose to protest against ongoing construction in front of his restaurant, Wok N Roll.

He could be charged with mischief, police said.

• Man rescued from St-Denis hole may face mischief charges

Jin Xu, his wife, told CBC there's been no pedestrian access to the restaurant since last Friday.

Both Perez and the police said this man has taken other actions like this before. But the city met with the St-Denis merchants' association nine times before embarking on the construction and incorporated several of their demands.

"It was supposed to take well over two years, but we reduced it to one year plus a fall," Perez said.

Another concession was the Grand Terrasse Rouge over the summer, in which several blocks of the street were turned into one long terrasse for bars and restaurants. The promotional event was meant to absorb some of the impact from the 16-month construction work.

Montreal police said the fate of the man who jumped into the hole is in the hands of investigators who will decide whether or not to press charges.