After three years of horror undergoing the infernal work of the rapid bus service (SRB), merchants on Pie-IX Boulevard in Montreal North are finally breathing new life and want to relaunch their commercial artery.
“With or without the work, the merchants are there for you”, can we read in large letters on an overpass at the corner of Boulevard Industriel.
The customers, however, have deserted the restaurants and shops since the start of the work in March 2019. And for good reason. During part of the first year of work, the iconic Dic Ann’s restaurant, built in 1956, was practically inaccessible due to the closure of sections of the boulevard. An agreement with the school located behind the restaurant finally allowed cars to access it from adjacent streets.
The noise and the monster traffic also drove away a large part of the clientele, especially those from Laval, just on the other side of the bridge. It must be said that the City took advantage of the construction of the bus stations to carry out work on the electricity, gas, water and sewer lines.
“It’s our loyal customers, like him, who have kept us alive,” says the owner, Sonia Gagnon, pointing to the man in front of her, who is devouring a hamburger, pressed and dripping with sauce, a specialty of the restaurant.
The restaurateur says she succeeded in obtaining financial compensation provided by the City of Montreal for establishments located in an area affected by major work. Several months and sustained efforts were however necessary to gather the requested paperwork. She wants to help other merchants to take advantage of it, since a tiny part of them would have had the resources to do so until now.
Outside, a long gray and green SRB station and its reserved lane are separated from the rest of the roadway by a massive black fence. As of the fall of 2022, the Société de transport de Montréal plans to run buses there between Laval and the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district at “a frequency comparable to that of the metro”. The works are on hold for the winter, and those planned for the area in 2022 seem, at first glance, less invasive, since it concerns the final asphalting of the roadway and the tests of the SRB.
The light at the end of the tunnel
After “reaching rock bottom” in 2019, Mme Gagnon has not recovered 100% of her traffic, but she feels that things are improving. “Pie-IX is going to be beautiful,” she rejoices. Around it is only cement. But there, they want to make a park next to it, put trees… ”
Not far from there, the owner of Méga Électronix, Nabil Tazibt, is not totally satisfied with the new layout of the street. The widening of the sidewalks increases the number of parking spaces in the small shopping center where it is located from 30 to 8. When the Homeworkcars were parked there chaotically for lack of space.
Mr. Tazibt still hopes that the final result will help restore the image of Montreal North. “We love our neighborhood. He is friendly, multicultural, supportive, ”says the one who lives above his business with his family.
The Long & McQuade musical instrument store, for its part, moved to the edge of Pie-IX Boulevard a few months before the work. “It was hell to come here,” recalls manager René Lavoie.
Better access by transport
Mr. Lavoie hopes that the new public transit service will encourage more musicians to make the trip to Montreal North. According to him, Montreal North is a neighborhood of choice for a store like his, given the rich musical traditions linked to the various cultures of the inhabitants.
“The best is yet to come”, he is convinced. It emphasizes the mobilization and mutual aid of neighborhood entrepreneurs. For its part, it intends to organize, in collaboration with other businesses, a big summer party on the Long & McQuade site to mark the end of the work.
The Association of Charleroi and Pie-IX Merchants does not intend to spare its efforts to breathe life into the commercial artery. A recovery committee is in place, says the president, Maude Royal, owner of St-Hubert Pie-IX. Its members are already planning activities such as a pop-up movie theater, contests, promotions, publicity, the creation of a mural and taking advantage of a municipal program to renovate commercial facades.
“Pie-IX will not become Laurier Ouest, nor Laurier Est… We have to get a different color, admits Mme Royal. But calm returns, and we want the boulevard to be livelier. »