Major road work in the town of Hudson is set to begin by mid-September, according to the city.
Hudson city council has approved a $2.2-million budget for a major repaving project for the off-island town 45 minutes from downtown Montreal.
The work will include the repaving and widening of Bellevue Street, sections of Main Road and Como Gardens Street.
“This has gone to tender and council has awarded the bid, so this should proceed within days,” city councillor and infrastructure committee chair Jim Duff said.
The majority of the work will focus on Bellevue, a major artery in and out of the town.
“We need to fix it first. Let’s not worry about putting lipstick on the pig,” Duff said.
An amount of $100,000 will go towards repaving and levelling Como Gardens Street.
Duff says several other bad stretches of side streets that have “badly degraded” will be worked on, including Main between Côte St. Charles and Oakland Street.
The work will aim to level the town’s ditches and culverts. Duff says this will help with the issue of erosion.
“Experience has shown us that poor drainage is one of the main causes of potholes and shoulder collapses,” Duff said.
Long-time resident Laura Bergeron says the streets are crumbling and are a danger to both vehicles and pedestrians.
“Our street is in bad shape, too. Many in Hudson are. It’s deplorable,” Bergeron said.
“When you’re driving it’s like a roller-coaster,” she added. “Some areas slant, one side is higher than the other — it can cause damages.”
She says it’s a relief to hear that something is being done but says it took a long time for the city to react.
“These roads continue to disintegrate before our eyes — nothing is being done.”
Residents’ built-up frustration has turned into art, with rock sculptures using crumbled pieces of the road appearing on Maple Street.
Duff says he understands residents’ frustration and agrees the state of the roads is “bad. ” He said Hudson has never had a plan to invest annually in road maintenance and upgrades.
“Our major arteries lack safe pedestrian and cycling shoulders and our sidewalks, storm drains and other infrastructure average 50 years old,” Duff said.
“In short, one can’t correct 50 years of neglect in four years.”
Of the 80 kilometres of roads and sidewalks in the town, Duff said all should receive a C or D letter grade.
He said the town now has an intervention plan that will address a $50-million infrastructure deficit in the shortest time possible.
“In the meantime, folks should stick to the 40 kilometre an hour speed limit.”