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CTV News
5 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Some TMR business owners say Hydro-Québec construction is hurting their livelihoods
A Hydro-Québec construction project in TMR is drawing frustration from some local business owners who say they were given little notice and are now struggling. A major Hydro-Québec construction project in the Town of Mount Royal (TMR) is drawing frustration from some local business owners who say they were given little notice and are now struggling to stay afloat. Crews have been digging and blocking streets since late April to install an underground transmission line along Jean-Talon West and Lucerne Road. While the Crown corporation says the work is essential to meet growing energy demands on the island of Montreal, business owners like Amit Bachar of Details Car Wash say it's left them with no clear way out. 'I've lost half my revenue already,' said Bachar, who's been operating the Jean-Talon West car wash for 18 years. 'On a sunny day like today, there would normally be 15 cars lined up. But now there's no one because customers can't even access my business.' The project, expected to continue through early September, has severely limited traffic on Lucerne Road, which is the main access point for Bachar's car wash. While one lane remains open for southbound traffic, the northbound route is entirely closed. That means drivers must take a detour just to get in. 'Cars can't come in from Jean-Talon like they usually do,' he said. Bachar says the situation has already forced him to cut employee hours. 'I'm trying to help them as much as I can, but I don't have unlimited money,' he said. 'This business is like my baby. Everything I've built over the past 18 years—Hydro-Québec could undo it in weeks.' A stone's throw away, Shalom Grunwald runs District Bagel. He said the disruption only began affecting him in recent days, but business has already slowed. 'Usually, when the weather is like this, our patio and inside would be full,' Grunwald said. 'Now, it's barely just a few people walking in.' He blames what he sees as poor planning and a lack of communication from Hydro-Québec. 'There's a detour, but it adds 15 to 20 minutes if you're driving,' Grunwald said. 'For a sandwich? Most people will just go somewhere else.' Both Grunwald and Bachar said they were only informed of the multi-month construction about two weeks before it began. Bachar described his calls to Hydro-Québec as frustrating, claiming he was told to hire a lawyer if he wanted help. 'So instead of supporting us, they're telling us to get into legal battles?' he said. 'I can't fight the government. They have all the money and we're just small business owners trying to survive.' In a statement to CTV News, Hydro-Québec spokesperson Jonathan Côté said excavation and paving near the intersection of Lucerne and Jean-Talon should be completed by June 6, with the full project wrapping up by Sept. 5. 'These are major works that will be completed in full by the end of summer,' Côté wrote, adding that specific efforts were made to limit disruption for local merchants. Those measures include installing bypass roads, signage, flaggers during work hours, and even a police presence during rush hour. Côté said plans were shared with affected business owners in advance and that the corporation held individual meetings with merchants. However, Hydro-Québec stated that financial compensation would not be provided in this case. The spokesperson said that's due to the work serving a public utility need, construction happening on public roads and mitigation efforts. That's cold comfort for Bachar. 'We pay taxes, we work seven days a week and we give everything to make our businesses work,' he said. 'Then they come in and destroy it all for a project—and don't even try to help. How can they look at people here suffering and just ignore it?' He says he's speaking out not just for himself but for other small business owners across Montreal facing similar situations. 'I'm sure there are hundreds of people in this position,' Bachar said. 'Hydro-Québec does whatever it wants, and it's not fair to the citizens.'
Montreal Gazette
5 days ago
- Business
- Montreal Gazette
T.M.R. businesses say they're taking financial hit as Hydro-Québec project limits access
By Amit Bachar has already lost about $50,000 in revenue for the month of May after construction took over the area where his car wash is located in the Town of Mount Royal. The owner of Details Car Wash said his income has been slashed by nearly half since a Hydro‑Québec project began this spring. The detours and heavy traffic have made it much harder for customers to access his services located on busy Jean-Talon St. and accessible by Lucerne Rd. 'It makes me very sad, very stressed, and it's affecting my life financially and mentally,' Bachar said in an interview Friday afternoon with The Gazette. 'And I feel like they just don't care about us. And it's not fair.' Details Car Wash has been around for nearly 50 years, and Bachar has been running it for 18 years. He said he employs about 20 people, but with fewer cars coming in because of ongoing road closures and detours, he's trying to find ways to keep afloat. One worker has already quit. The Hydro‑Québec project to build an underground transmission line began in late April, but Bachar said he only found out about two weeks before it started. One of his workers was given a verbal notice, he said. Jean-Talon St. was blocked off in front of his business but reopened this week so cars can now more easily exit the car wash. But Lucerne Rd., which is used to access the entrance of the car wash, is down to one lane. It comes during Details Car Wash's busiest time of year, he added. 'The time is so hard already for small businesses. Believe me, there is not a lot of money here,' Bachar said. 'Business down 80 per cent at District Bagel' Other merchants are also feeling squeezed. Shulem Greenwald, owner of District Bagel, said he has lost about 80 per cent of his business in the last week after construction picked up in front of his entrance on Lucerne Rd. He estimated the project has cost him thousands of dollars, noting only a handful of customers popped by for lunch. The detour to access District Bagel is long, he added. 'When you Google it at night, it takes seven extra minutes. But during the day and it's busy in traffic and to detour — probably if somebody wants to come, grab a sandwich or bagel or anything — they'll have to spend an extra 25 minutes just to get to my place,' Greenwald said. Bachar said he understands the necessity of infrastructure projects, but Hydro‑Québec hasn't gone far enough to help. In an email to Bachar this week, a Hydro‑Québec employee pointed to a number of mitigation measures, including signage for local detours and police on site to ease traffic. 'We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Please know that we are within our rights to carry out our work,' the email reads. In an email to The Gazette, Hydro‑Québec described the construction of an underground transmission line to connect two substations as a 'major work.' 'This work will improve the quality of service in a context of increased demand at the Mont-Royal substation,' it wrote, adding the project will be fully completed by the end of summer. It said that mitigation measures were communicated to merchants beforehand and it remains in 'constant contact with the affected businesses.' It also noted work was sped up to free an area near those companies. 'We plan to finish our excavation and paving work on June 6 in this specific area, in order to free up access to the businesses at the corner of Lucerne and Jean-Talon,' Hydro‑Québec said. The end of work can't come soon enough for Bachar, who said he would consider a line of credit against his house or borrow money to keep Details Car Wash open, if needed. 'We work very, very hard,' he said. This story was originally published May 30, 2025 at 5:42 PM.
