EDMONTON- As construction season begins to wrap up in our city, some Edmonton businesses are hoping to bounce back after having their bottom line impacted by road closures.
Business has been slow at The Comic Shop this summer, due to a streetscaping project along 118th Avenue.
“I’ve noticed a definite drop in traffic coming in and out of the store,” said John Pobihushchyji, who works at The Comic Shop, located at 104th Street and 118th Avenue.
He says business has declined, as crews worked to reconstruct the road, walkways, ramps and pedestrian crossings, as well as replace the streetlights and sidewalks.
“They had make-shift ramps made up for people, I found it to be kind of hazardous,” Pobihushchyji explained Sunday morning. “It was a real huge inconvenience.”
Pobihushchyji says The Comic Shop has heavily relied on its website and Facebook page to promote the store, and some merchandise has been discounted in hopes of keeping customers during this tough time.
“Kind of a way of compensating for the inconvenience of the parking hassles that did exist.
Get breaking National news
“It’s our way of saying thanks,” he said, adding that the store’s regular customers are “the back bone of the store.”
The Comic Shop is not the only business that’s suffered; with 177 road construction projects on the go in Edmonton this summer, several businesses say they’ve taken a hit.
“It really has cut down on our business… I guess we weren’t really prepared for the traffic just to stop suddenly. It really did. We get a lot of walk-ins and that has really stopped,” Maureen Wright, co-owner of MoJo Design, said earlier this year.
The business, located at 103rd Avenue and 134th Street, was impacted by construction on the Stony Plain Road bridge over Groat Road, which started on April 28.
“We’ve had a fair amount of construction on the streets of course, but the goal is to get the roads into better condition,” said Allan Bartman, a general supervisor in the City of Edmonton’s Transportation Department.
But after months of construction, there’s finally some good news.
“Typically we try and wrap up as much as we can by the time the school year is starting and summer holidays are finishing, and so that’s the point we’re at right now,” Bartman explained.
Three lanes of Stony Plain Road over Groat Road will reopen to traffic beginning Monday morning. And as of Friday, 118th Avenue had been completely reopened to traffic. The City says there is still some minor work that needs to be finished on 118th Avenue, but it will not impact traffic in the area.
Meanwhile, back at The Comic Shop, Pobihushchyji is hopeful business will pick up again.
“It’s been a lot of work, but it pays off in the end hopefully.”
For more information on current road construction projects, visit the City of Edmonton’s website.
With files from Tom Vernon, Global News.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.