Hydro-Quebec has ripped up a freshly-paved street in Cote des Neiges.
Borough and city officials say the utility was given plenty of notice about the work taking place this summer, yet still was not able to co-ordinate with construction crews.
Cote des Neiges Rd. was redone from late June until early August, but Hydro Quebec said it could not manage to get crews available to repair or reconstruct an underground power station until October.
Rather than leave the street unfinished for ten weeks, the city closed its hole and repaved the street. Officials say they knew it would cost more money, but figured public safety was more important.
Nada Raouda, whose Restaurant Kabab lies in the construction zone, said the second round of digging is threatening his business.
"This summer we suffered badly, badly, I know from the numbers it was a bad summer for us," said Raouda. "It's like you're in a prison."
Hydro-Quebec says its work will take several more weeks.
This lack of co-ordination among various utilities and city construction crews appears to be quite common.
First along Park Avenue, then along St. Laurent, merchants in Montreal have closed their doors or moved while saying that ongoing construction killed their livelihoods.
In 2012, after two years of work, store owners on Park Ave. said sales had dropped, on average, by 20 percent.
The city of Montreal had launched the work to replace a century-old water main, and invited other utilities to take advantage of the street closure to update their own infrastructure.
In 2011 the city of Montreal created a regional committee to co-ordinate construction between utilities, and all three levels of government.
