Denis Coderre, Southwest borough mayor in Twitter feud over Rose-de-Lima Street becoming one-way

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre tweeted Tuesday afternoon that the city would not approve changes to Rose-de-Lima Street, neutralizing arguments that had arisen in Saint-Henri over converting a stretch of the street to only allow one-way traffic northbound.

Coderre tweeted in French that city authorization was needed before the borough could make the change, and that they wouldn't get it.

He added that he didn't want to see the borough become like the Plateau-Mont-Royal — alluding to the number of one-way streets that changed direction in 2015.

A spokesperson for the mayor, Catherine Maurice, confirmed that the city would not approve the direction change. She said there would be too great an impact on public transit in the area if the change were allowed.

The office of Southwest borough Mayor Benoit Dorais said approval from the city had been given about a year ago.

Dorais tweeted a reply to Coderre with documents showing the city approved the work in Aug. 2016, adding that the work is now complete.

The two mayors tweeted back and forth at each other for about three hours until Dorais concluded that their disagreement could not be handled in 140 characters.

He invited Coderre to meet him at the intersection of Notre-Dame Street West and Rose-de-Lima to talk about it in person.

Arguments over changing directions

Business owners and landlords on Notre-Dame Street West in Saint-Henri have been criticizing the move for the past few days.

Rose-de-Lima connects Highway 720 to Notre-Dame, where many merchants rely on customers coming from outside the neighbourhood.

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Dorais said the decision to change traffic flow on Rose-de-Lima was the result of extensive public consultations that involved both residents and business owners.

"People wanted [Rose-de-Lima] to be safer and to remove the through traffic [from the highway]," he said. 

The change is part of a general overhaul to make the area more pedestrian-friendly and safer for children, cyclists and people with reduced mobility, and Dorais said he believes it will ultimately be good for businesses.

Access from highway essential, business owners say

Merchants in the area, however, say access to the street from the highway is essential.

They're already dealing with the fallout of extensive roadwork some say has resulted in a 30 per cent drop in clientele.

Peter Sergakis owns buildings on Notre-Dame and worries revenues will go down further if customers find it too difficult to access the street. He says some shops may not be able to pay the rent if that happens.

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The change would force drivers coming off the highway to take longer detours to access the stores

'Exemplary consultation process' says borough

Sergakis said the city did not reach out to merchants to find out how they felt about the two-way stretch of Rose-de-Lima Street becoming one-way.

"Politicians make decisions themselves without consulting the business people involved to ask them what they think about it," he told CBC Montreal's Daybreak.

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Dorais, however, said the borough conducted extensive consultations over the changes dating back to 2015. The redevelopment, he said, responds to concerns raised by their customers during those discussions.

Dorais also said the borough worked with the local merchants' association, les Quartiers du Canal, on the Notre-Dame Street project.

Mario Andrews, the merchants association's executive board vice president, said it was known Rose-de-Lima would be made a one-way street, but the direction wasn't made clear.

"Everyone thought it would be going south — it's the natural way to go to Notre-Dame Street," he said.

He added that there may have been a degree of miscommunication on both sides.

"Even the board of the [merchants association], we talked about it, but we didn't think about the direction," Andrews said.

Dorais, however, said the work is done and Rose-de-Lima is already one-way. 

"The signs are already installed, the road has already been transformed," he said.