Many years ago, they had a great joke on Married ... With Children: "I know there are K-Marts in Chicago, but there's something so special about going to one out of town!"
I guess one could say the Hudson's Bay location in downtown Montréal would have to be one of those places -- a department store as well as a tourist attraction. Today it almost became a death-trap also when the ceiling in the basement started leaking big time. They actually had to shut down a section of the Métro's Ligne Verte because of fears the subway might be flooded in. There's been chaos as a result, as that one line alone carries 200,000 passengers every day.
It's telling that although our downtowns are the lifeblood of major cities in Canada, they also have the worst infrastructure. Many water pipes are a hundred years old or more with an intended service life of only 40 years or less. And they run right through the heart -- or in this case, between two worlds; the one above ground and the one below, with people both in it.
We keep seeing all these megaprojects being bandied about. What about keeping the basics in a good state of repair? It's a good thing someone spotted this before there was a real problem. Sure we could use a deep water port in the Far North but imagine what five billion could do to bring pipes up to standard and making sure bridges and tunnels get painted every so often. Often, that's enough to avert disaster.
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2 comments:
MOntreal has infrastructure problems because the mafia has been controlling contracts here for going on 50 years. They need to bring in outside contrators from Ontario or the states to beak the control these criminal gangs have on city contracts. They charge three times what it should cost and do shoddy work. It stime they were run out of town, even if the province or the feds have to get involved.
Well, good luck with that.
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