St-Laurent to be carless in Little Italy
The stretch of St-Laurent between St-Zotique and Jean-Talon is to be closed to traffic for part of the summer – no dates given here. This stretch is closed periodically during the summer anyway, notably during the Grand Prix – ironically, that glorification of the internal combustion engine – and then later for the Semaine italienne. Rosemont borough will also be turning parts of Beaubien and Masson into closed malls for the summer.
Spi 17:15 on 2020-05-19 Permalink
I thought decisions concerning major thoroughfares like saint-laurent was the responsibility of the city, I’m surprised that a borough mayor has the ability to just close a stretch of a major traffic artery, which inevitably will impact surrounding neighbourhoods.
Kate 18:03 on 2020-05-19 Permalink
Mayor Plante already announced a general intention to do things to brighten things up for the populace this summer. These Rosemont borough plans may fall under that program.
Ian 18:59 on 2020-05-19 Permalink
It’s mostly been blocked off by construction for the last three years anyway, no big loss for drivers …
It’s about time the city did something for that stretch, it’s been getting pretty rough for business, especially between bellechasse & beaubien. If they make that stretch a bit nicer hopefully some business will spill over to the south.
Kate 20:08 on 2020-05-19 Permalink
Actually, things had been picking up along there recently, I felt, but who knows how many empty storefronts we’ll see after All This.
Ian 16:44 on 2020-05-20 Permalink
I’ve heard some express the hope that it will be a renaissance of exciting new businesses as there will be so many vacancies, unemployed retail/restaurant/bar workers, and supply chains without clients that are eager to start doing business again…
We shall see. I hope they are right.
DeWolf 18:20 on 2020-05-20 Permalink
I remember about 13 years ago, I wrote a story for the Mirror about a pop-up art performance that was taking place in a vacant retail space on Beaubien. Today that kind of spot would be owned by a company like Shiller Lavy who’d keep it boarded up until they find a tenant with deep pockets. Let’s hope we get a bit of the old Montreal back in the near future…
Ian 19:12 on 2020-05-20 Permalink
That strip is now full of high end pop art galleries, like original OBEY stuff, that kind of thing. That hood is well past the DIY outsider art stage.