Only weeks after a sinkhole tore apart Sherbrooke St., cars are once again being barred from one of downtown Montreal's main arteries due to failing infrastructure.
The dozen city blocks on all sides of the busy intersection at Ste-Catherine St. and McGill College Ave. are off limits to cars due to fears that a 24 square metre section of asphalt could fall into an underground void.
The heavy rainstorms that flooded parts of Montreal over the past month could be the blame. According to the city, the heavy rains could have contributed to the collapse of a brick sewer built in 1876 and washed away most of the foundation under the road.
The only thing believed to be holding up the surface of the road is the rails from Montreal's long-abandoned tramway system. Paved over, the pair of rails is holding up a slab of concrete.
On Monday, city workers discovered that the section of road was in bad shape. On Tuesday, traffic was stopped after workers decided that the intersection was at risk of collapse.
According to Richard Deschamps, the vice-chairman of Montreal's executive committee, the work to fill the 2.5 metre deep underground void will take weeks.
"We are going to move as fast as possible and we want to reassure the population and people working at the businesses and institutions around here that we will contact them to help avoid some of the impacts," said Deschamps, one of Mayor Gerald Tremblay's main lieutenants.
Unwilling to take chances, Ste-Catherine St. was blocked off at Stanley St., four blocks away.
In the heart of Montreal's shopping and office district, the closure will impact the Eaton Centre, Place Montreal Trust, Place Ville Marie and the commutes of thousands.
Repairs continue on two collapsed water mains on Peel St., one north of Ste-Catherine St. and the other near de la Gauchetiere St.
