Bank-Somerset businesses brace for another road closure

Businesses still recovering from the eight-week closure of a downtown Ottawa intersection last fall must endure another street closure this summer, this time for months.

The City of Ottawa is to close Bank Street from Laurier Avenue to Somerset Street for six months starting late May as part of work to replace sewers and watermains and revamp the streetscape with new benches and lamp posts along the major downtown shopping street.

The timing has drawn anger and dismay from Effie Gattas, owner of Gabriel's Pizza on the northeast corner of Bank and Somerset Streets, an intersection that was closed by the city from Oct. 19 and Dec. 19.

Gattas said her business lost a lot of money due to the plunge in customer traffic after the intersection was shut down due to safety concerns over Somerset House, a heritage brick building that had partially collapsed on the southeast corner and was deemed at risk of further collapse.

"And now they are going to close the street from May to November?" she asked. "That's really crazy. Are they thinking of the small businesses around here?"

The city should upgrade other areas first and give businesses near Bank and Somerset a break this year, Gattas said.

Gerry Lepage, executive director of the Bank Street Business Improvement Area, said some of the sewer and watermains below the street are more than 100 years old and badly in need of upgrades.

"So this is a necessary evil," he said. "And it's just extremely unfortunate that it comes on the heels of something like the Somerset House incident."

Diane Holmes, the city councillor representing the area, agreed that while the timing is bad, the street needs the work.

After the partial building collapse in October, the city and the owners of the damaged building argued over whether the building would need to be demolished or could be saved.

Eventually, it was assessed by an independent engineer, partially torn down and deemed stable enough for the streets to reopen.