If you walk along this stretch of Van Horne Avenue, some might think that it could do with a bit of sprucing up.
City Councillor Marvin Rotrand agrees, and he tells Global News he has a plan to do just that.
“This area is going to be even better a year from today,” he explains. “That’s because I’ve gotten a commitment from the city for $8 million to renew Van Horne between Decarie and Lavoie.”
Rotrand hopes to have the project completed in four to five months — starting in June or July next year, and ending in October. But though the entire street between Decarie and Lavoie will be repaved, it’s mainly one spot that’s the focus of this project.
Rotrand says that “one of the key elements will be redoing the key intersection at Victoria and van Horne.
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“What the city is going to do is make it safer for pedestrians. We’re going to add better lighting. The intersection will be redone with enlarged sidewalks, a lot of shrubs and bushes.”
He says this plan is part of a bigger project to revitalize the Snowdon district, and two other areas he wants to revamp are de la Savane, which will start this August, and Queen Mary which he hopes to have done in 2019.
There have been similar projects in the city that have angered business owners because of lost business due to the construction, and while merchants around Van Horne and Victoria like the idea of a spruce-up, they are afraid of losing business.
Store owner Ben Berman thinks that the idea to revamp the neighbourhood is great, but he says the city shouldn’t close because it would hurt their businesses.
Rotrand admits there could be some impact but points out that short-term pain is sometimes necessary for long-term gain.
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“There’s no such thing as construction or repairs without some sort of impact,” he stresses. But he says there will be steps taken to minimize the impact on business and traffic.
“The city will ensure that there is at least one traffic lane each direction on Van horne, during the work. The intersection will not be too disruptive because we’ll do one side and then the other side.”
He’s convinced that this kind of work will help to put his neighbourhood on the map.