Roadwork takes its toll on retail

Some store owners on Ste-Catherine are, predictably, not happy with the roadwork site, saying the city is not doing enough to offset the effects it has on business. Maybe there’s some truth to this, but there’s little the city can do to cajole people into strolling in an area which has become difficult or unpleasant to navigate on foot, especially in winter.

CJAD reports that one of the businesses on Bishop where a long dig for STM ventilation has years yet to go has closed up shop and moved, also citing the city’s unwillingness to act – in this case, because although it now has programs to lighten the tax burden where it’s digging, it doesn’t apply to work being done by anyone else, including the STM.