The always-excellent West Side Action is two parts into a 5-part series on Bronson Avenue. Bronson was designated as an arterial in the 1970s as part of the Centretown plan, and bears the brunt of north-south automobile traffic in a wide swath of  Centretown,  from Kent/Lyon in the east to Booth in the west. Factors like noise, dust, narrow sidewalks, and limited pedestrian crossings make Bronson a real barrier for foot and cycle traffic, separating Chinatown from points east and discouraging development along Bronson itself. Bronson is slated for reconstruction in 2011, and, astonishingly, the City presented a plan to the neighbourhood that would see engineers actually widen the roadbed, facilitating even greater traffic speed along the road.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1024" caption="Former site of Goldstein's Supermarket on Elgin; still vacant"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1373" align="alignnone" width="600" caption="The former home of Empire Theatres' Orleans theatre between St. Joseph and Centrum, now closed for business"][/caption] Some east-enders may have noticed changes at the Orleans Town Centre this past week. The six-screen multiplex that's been standing there for nearly twenty years is now shut down. Originally planned as the proposed third floor of the expansion plans for the Place d'Orléans Mall of the latter half of the 1980's, instead it somehow got built as the second floor of a separate building across the street and about a block away down Centrum Boulevard. It was initially owned by Cineplex Odeon and then passed on to Empire Theatres some years ago.

Photoshopped representation of the new arch expected for Chinatown in March of 2010;  thanks go to West Side Action for the update.