Construction crews have removed fencing and reopened Ste-Catherine to pedestrians for the weekend.
It’s a good weekend for a stroll downtown.
City crews hosed away dust, removed fences and construction workers vacated Ste-Catherine St. W. in the downtown core Friday. The street will be reopened to pedestrians only for the weekend. Cars will be permitted to return to the iconic street on Monday. But one thing that may surprise those driving downtown for the first time in a while is the lack of parking meters on Ste-Catherine. Like the portion of the street that has already been revamped, this portion of Ste-Catherine St. will have only one lane for driving and another lane for delivery vehicles.
“Pedestrians should come down and appreciate the street’s new design,” city spokesperson Philippe Sabourin said Friday over the din of a street-sweeping truck cleaning the roadway behind him.
After two years of construction most of the work is done on the portion between Mansfield and Peel Sts. However, crews will once again close Ste-Catherine St. from April until the fall of next year to complete the project. That includes replacing the temporary asphalt with permanent unistone cement paving and replacing a gas line under Mansfield. Mansfield itself will be repaved from René Lévesque Blvd. to Sherbrooke St. next year. That means another spring, summer and fall where the street will be closed again. Peel and Metcalfe St. will be open to traffic next year, however, even during the construction period.
Next year’s work will probably be far less invasive, as most of the fences will not return and the street is expected to be more welcoming for pedestrians, who will be permitted to stroll through the area for the duration of the closure.
However, another portion of the street may be closed next year. The next phase of Ste-Catherine: between Peel and St-Marc Sts. is gearing up, with the city preparing to issue a call for tenders in the coming months. Sabourin did not know on Friday when that phase of the work will begin because the contract has not yet been awarded.
The city is encouraging Montrealers to come back downtown on Nov. 23 for the Santa Claus Parade, which will be held on René-Lévesque Blvd., between Bishop and St-Urbain Sts., and then to meander toward Ste-Catherine to visit local merchants who have had a tough few years enduring construction. For the first year, city blue-collar workers will take part in the parade, with snow-clearing workers organizing a float.
“There was someone from the city who was in touch with the merchants to ease their concerns,” Sabourin said. “We took every step possible to keep Ste-Catherine as welcoming as possible.”
One of them, who didn’t want to give his name, said the project was badly mismanaged from the get-go.
“I have a small business here, and I swear to you it’s been very badly organized,” said the man, who owns a business on Metcalfe. “We parked for two minutes and would get tickets for $200. I have $1,000 worth of tickets and I don’t have any time in my day to contest them in court. They are scrapping Ste-Catherine St. They’re killing us.”