Patricia Olah-Levine has lived in a house on Atwater Avenue above Sherbrooke Street for 13 years.
But after years of road construction on her street, she’s fed up of the dust, noise, dirt and inconvenience.
“We actually considered selling our house last year, but realized we could not possibly put it up for sale with this mess going on,” she said.
A large belt of construction downtown has been going on for several years now. And residents are fed up.
“It’s very poorly planned,” said Côte-des-Neiges resident Colin Rose. “They did not think about the people living in this area trying to get out.”
On Côte-des-Neiges Road, between Cedar Avenue and The Boulevard, the street is being ripped up, causing traffic gridlock.
READ MORE: Bishop Street merchants gearing up for court fight over lengthy construction work
On the other side, coming down toward downtown, no one was working when we passed by.
But the street was down to one lane. And with Atwater Avenue also down to one lane, fluid movement on a major Montreal artery is restricted.
“That was a perfectly good road they dug it up to put the sewers in,” Rose said.
“Now they paved it, now they are digging it up again just to repave it. There are no sewers going in so I have no idea why they did that.”
Communication from the Ville-Marie borough indicates the work on Atwater Avenue between Sherbrooke Street and Dr. Penfield Avenue should end by the week of June 26. But residents say they don’t understand what is taking so long, and why the city hasn’t communicated better with them what’s going on.
“No one says what is happening or what should happen or what it’s costing,” Olah-Levine complained.
READ MORE: Road work blues: Critics complain Montreal construction schedule is archaic
Francois Tremblay runs a small bed and breakfast on Côte-des-Neiges Road, opposite the Montreal General hospital. He says business has suffered.
“This is very difficult. I don’t understand why they do all the work all at the same time,” Tremblay said.
People complain the city of Montreal hasn’t been transparent about the work.
Global News tried contacting the city for information on why the streets are under construction, how long it’s supposed to take, and how much it’s costing.
The City didn’t respond to our repeated requests for information by our deadline, something that doesn’t surprise weary residents who’ve had enough.
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