Heart of downtown Montreal closed for 2 years as work on Ste-Catherine Street begins
Section of main commercial artery blocked between Stanley and Mansfield for construction
Downtown Montreal is once again a construction zone as the second phase of a decade-long project to revamp Ste-Catherine Street begins.
Work on Quebec's busiest commercial artery began Monday. The street is completely closed off on both sides of Peel Street, between Stanley and Mansfield streets.
This section will remain closed for the next two years, with work expecting to wrap up in the fall of 2025.
This phase of the project includes replacing sewer lines and pipes — underground infrastructure that is more than a century old and obsolete, the city says. Sidewalks will also be widened and more greenery added.
Vehicle traffic is being detoured around the site.
The budget to revamp this section of the street is $70 million, says Glenn Castanheira, the executive director for the Downtown Montreal Merchants' Association.
"Altogether, I mean, we need to go all the way to Atwater [Avenue], so we can expect many hundreds of millions of dollars will be needed," he said of the cost for the remaining phases of the project.
The city has said it will be offering a $5,000 lump sum for affected business owners on top of its aid program that offers up to $40,000 to companies that can prove they lost money during the construction.
The first phase of construction got underway in 2018 between Mansfield and de Bleury Streets.