Ongoing construction and road closures on George Street continues to put a strain on small businesses on the street.
Construction of the downtown district energy system and ornamental street lights closed the 300 block of George Street to traffic for over two weeks in September - parking and traffic have been disturbed since the end of August.
Since Thursday the intersection of George Street and Fourth Avenue has been closed again to allow for the construction of an ornamental brick crosswalk.
"They gave us a package saying it was going to take 10 days. Nobody told us about the other stuff that is going to take another two to three weeks," The Final Chapter Book Store owner Barry Libby said. "If they'd come and left, it would be OK. Now I'm starting to think this is going on a little long."
Libby said customers have complained to him about how difficult it is to get to the street with construction taking place throughout downtown.
"It's starting to effect people downtown," he said.
Robyn's Woolgathering owner Robyn Bugara said business has dried up in what would normally be her busy season.
"I've had one customer today. Normally I'd have 10 or 12 - I'm a small shop. But 10 per cent is pretty low," Bugara said. "The majority of people think they can't get to the block."
Bugara said no one from the city has told her how much longer the disruption will last.
Liberty Cafe owner Tulsa Sturmey opened her doors two and half weeks ago, and has faced slower-than-anticipated business.
"The previous owner had given some idea of how busy it was. It is a lot slower," Sturmey said. "My co-worker just said it took her 10 minutes to get here because of all the construction. It's not just this street, it's all over downtown - it's all jumbled."
Sturmey said she understood the construction work should be done by now.
Naomi Kalweit, owner of Barbers on George, relocated her business to Dominion Steet.
"It [the move] was already in the works, but it did a large amount of damage to the business. It is a big mess," Kalweit said. "People can't get there to see where we've moved to. It's still affecting us and we aren't even there anymore."
City transportation engineering supervisor Heather Andreychuk said ornamental crosswalks are planned for the intersections on George Street between Second
Avenue and Seventh Avenue.
The crosswalk at Fourth Avenue should be done by Oct. 26 and all five should be completed by Oct. 28, Andreychuk said. In addition, the installation of ornamental streetlights on the east side of George Street is expected to start today.
"Pavement will be going down and street lights will be going up," she said. "Paving is expected to start next week. They'll likely do one block at a time, because they can't pave over the sidewalks."
Paving will require further road closures, but should be completed by Oct. 28.
