Repeated construction along 1 Avenue N.E. in Bridgeland has a business in the area calling on the city to implement better coordination.
Lukes Drug Mart, a fixture of the northeast Calgary community for more than 75 years, said business took a hit during construction along the street earlier this year.
“People thought we were closed, so we had really bad sales impacts,” said Garreth Lukes, who owns Lukes Drug Mart.
“For all the new businesses in the area, we were really scared that they might not be able to get through another massive road closure and construction season.”
According to Lukes, the road outside the business will be torn up and repaved three separate times in a matter of a year.
Enmax completed utility upgrades on 1 Avenue N.E. between 4 Street and 6 Street in the spring.
Telus is now scheduled to begin work along the strip between Edmonton Trail and 6 Street N.E. from Sept. 15-19, and between 4 Street and Edmonton Trail from Sept. 22-26.
That will be followed by City of Calgary crews digging up the road and adjacent sidewalk as part of its Main Streets project in Bridgeland.
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“It just seems like a waste of money for everyone,” Lukes said. “If they coordinated, maybe they could split the cost of paving.”
According to the city, the project includes burying overhead power and utility lines in order to provide for widened public realm along the street.
“Each utility provider owns and works on their own particular piece of infrastructure. The city and utility providers make every attempt to minimize impact by coordinating work in the project area wherever possible,” said a statement from a city spokesperson.
“Sometimes, however, there are construction sequencing steps (utility shutdowns for the move, specific location for utilities underground, whether or not shared duct banks are being used, etc.) that mean we cannot always do all of the moves at the same time.”
When asked about the issue, Ward 9 Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra, who represents the area, said he shared in the “outrage” of the businesses.
Carra said he hopes firming up a dig-once policy is something the next city council can add to its agenda once elected in October.
“It’s something the next council should look at and tackle,” Carra said. “We have to make sure that we support our local businesses and we (have to) make sure that we efficiently disrupt neighbourhood life and the business life of the communities that serve those neighbourhoods.”
Last week, Lukes took its frustrations to social media in a post calling for the city to coordinate projects to minimize disruptions to area businesses.
“Basic coordination would save taxpayers millions and protect local businesses,” the post said.
Lukes ‘ social media post also included a city response, which asked the business to “refrain” from posting about construction frustrations on social media due to “unintended negative impacts” to area businesses.
In a statement, city officials said a team member advised Lukes that a post may “discourage people from visiting businesses in the area to avoid construction impacts,” which is a concern officials have heard from some businesses on other projects.
The city took a different tone when asked about it.
“While the intention of the email was to acknowledge the construction challenges and provide support, we recognize that the language used in the correspondence was unclear,” a city statement to Global News said.
“The city does not dictate how and with whom those impacted by construction can share their concerns and we sincerely apologize for the miscommunication.
“We respect and appreciate the voices of all our local businesses, and we take these concerns seriously.”
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