Some residents in Verdun are sounding the alarm on what they call dangerous living conditions.

Work is being done to the infrastructure along Rolland and Stephens Sts. between Monteith and Beurling Sts. – but has stopped for the construction holiday and the site has been left in a mess.

Broken pieces of concrete, abandoned pipes and scraps of wood with hanging nails have been left in the middle of the street.

Resident Donna Morrison said she feels like she's living in a danger zone.

“Everything is just left as is,” she said. “They haven't even cleaned up. You can't go down the sidewalks and it's really a hazard and dangerous.”



Verdun resident Shanna Martin said it’s a concern for local parents.

“It's dangerous. There are a lot of kids playing here in the streets,” she said.

The street lights also have not been working for more than a week, leaving the site pitch black at night.

“We live in the city, you shouldn't have to be walking down the street with flashlights at night,” said Morrison.



Add to the darkness uneven terrain and one-foot drops where work is taking place and it’s a recipe for injury, said resident Shane Stevens.

“You could twist your ankle, you could twist your arm from falling - it's a very bad thing,” he said.

“Right next door to us a young woman got out of her car,” added Morrison. “She was holding her son in her arms and she fell.”

A senior woman who lives in the area said she doesn’t even have access to her front door.

“It doesn't take much to put a few (pieces of) plywood, just something to get from your stairs onto the road with falling at nighttime or if it's raining,” said resident Peter Karpinskyj.

Projet Montreal city councillor sterling Downey has received a number of complaints about the site. When he saw the site for himself, he was shocked.

“It's obviously to fix the infrastructure because it's old and needs to be done, but we can't not give them access. If someone has any kind of reduced mobility, it would be impossible to navigate through some of this stuff,” he said.

An official from the mayor's office told CTV in an email that they are aware of the lighting situation and will resume work on Monday.

They also recommended that concerned residents contact 311, but Morrison said she had a negative experience when she did call.

“The woman was not explaining what was wrong, she was actually quite rude,” she said, adding that she hopes no one gets hurt and work finishes on time.

“I think the city has a responsibility. They're very fast to collect our taxes – they don't have a problem with that,” she said.