JOHN JANTAK
The 1019 Report
Workers and students who are being forced to spend hours daily commuting to and from the island of Montreal are not the only people feeling the effects of the long lines of traffic as the Île aux Tourtes Bridge is restricted to one lane in each direction. Businesspeople on this side of the span are experiencing serious and immediate economic impacts.
“It’s real,” said Helen Henshaw a Hudson-based real estate broker with Royal LePage Village.
“I have people looking to sell to go back to the island because they can’t stand it,” Henshaw said, referring to the long daily commute times.
Home buyers looking to purchase a property in Vaudreuil-Soulanges are having second thoughts, said Patricia Wright, another Royal LePage Village broker.
Wright says the number of prospective buyers visiting properties listed for sale on the western side of the bridge has dropped off in the last few weeks.
“It has had a huge effect,” Wright said.
But that effect cuts both ways for some real estate brokers. Not only are there fewer people looking at homes in Vaudreuil-Soulanges, she said, getting across the bridge to show listings in the West Island is now a major hurdle for real estate professionals based in this region.
Wright said she is considering partnering with a broker in the West Island to facilitate showing houses in that area on days she just can’t make it across in a timely fashion.
Restaurants are feeling the pinch, too.
“It is having an impact,” said Bill Tallman, owner of Mon Village restaurant in St. Lazare. “We have a lot of customers from the West Island. It takes an hour-and-a-half to get across the bridge.
“Lots of times we’ll have a group of 10, or whatever, and some of them are coming from the West Island, so we’re losing a lot of business,” Tallman said. “It’s definitely affecting us.”
But some restaurateurs are trying to find the bright spots.
“It is going to stop people coming in from the West Island, but there’s also a lot of people living in Vaudreuil-Soulanges,” said Patricia Wenzel, co-owner of Auberge Willow Inn in Hudson. “Where are they going to go? It works both ways.”
“People from Vaudreuil-Soulanges are not going downtown, so they’re looking for a local place to eat. Their loss is our gain,” she added.
Wenzel’s optimism, she points out, is somewhat stemmed in the fact the Willow is scheduled to close on Saturday for what she calls the “winter vacation period. It will only reopen in March.”
Yet, many agree, this region is being penalized.
“It really is criminal,” said Henshaw. “We are not being treated properly,” she added, referring to having adequate access to the island of Montreal.
“I don’t think we are being heard,” said Wright.