The narrow lanes of Ste. Anne St. at the western tip of the island of Montreal are a picturesque part of Ste. Anne de Bellevue.
And seven years after the main thoroughfare through the small town was first torn up and rebuilt, Hydro poles are finally being removed.
"They re-did the whole street. they re-did the sewers, they re-did the sidewalks and at the same time they created the network for the underground lines," said councillor Ryan Young.
"Hydro Quebec was able to give us a subsidy because we're considered a heritage town - une village patrimoniale - so basically the majority of the cost of putting this underground network in and taking down the poles and the wires was paid for by Hydro Quebec."
Putting the electrical wires underground is not just more attractive: it's safer as well.
"The ice storm of 1998 would be something that people would remember where power outages were happening all over the place because of heavy ice on the wires and trees coming down and branches and so on. so when you have an underground network you don't have that problem anymore," said Young.
It's the final step in a $14 million project which many say has taken far too long.
Years of road and sidewalk construction have taken their toll on local businesses, many of which have closed.
The head of the Merchants' Association, Jean-Claude Provost, said 25 percent of businesses have left Ste. Anne's.
"We have about 15 empty places on the street and this is the result of what happened for the past seven years," he said.
The town admits the work took longer than anticipated, but expects that everything will soon be finished.
"I don't see a major infrastructure like this happening on the main street for many years to come," said Young.
