FERGUS – As business owners count down the days until the St. David Street North reconstruction is finished for the season, some residents say the construction zone has brought an unexpected peace to their neighbourhood.
Calling her dug-up front lawn “an adjustment,” St. David St. N. resident Anna Dolderman said there have been unexpected benefits to living in front of the construction zone even if it can be “kind’ve annoying” because she has little kids.
“It’s actually crazy, during the day, (my daughter’s) nap schedule and stuff like that is so disrupted just from noise and everything but in the evenings we’ve been loving it because there’s nothing,” said Dolderman. “It’s been so quiet.”
Agreeing with Dolderman, resident Amanda Calleja said that despite the occasional dust issue, the construction has been "a blessing" and it's been nice to have "peace and quiet in the evenings."
Other residents like Sue Porter said while the construction makes it harder for her to get around, the noise doesn't matter because once it finishes, "all the big rigs will start down the road again."
“As daunting as the noise has been, it has by far outweighed the regular noise of the summer traffic that came,” said Calleja. “With the summer noise, you would get the trucks, the motorcycles, the loud music and the people all day and all night, this at least stops at four or five.”
But surviving the construction has been more difficult for business owners located in and around St. David St. N. with some owners saying they've lost around 30 to 40 per cent of business since it began.
Calling the construction “noisy” and “inconvenient for customers,” Cindy Nguyen, the owner of Professional Nails on St. David St. N. in Fergus said nobody likes the construction even though she understands “we have to do what we have to.”
“I know that some customers say they’re scared to come here because of the construction on the corner and they’re nervous,” said Nguyen. “Elderly customers, some say it’s very hard to get here and they don’t want to come and also this year we don’t have customers who drive by and see it and walk in, only regular customers.”
Jailena Williamson, the owner of Violet & Ash Candle Co. at the Little Falls Centre on St. David St. N. said she noticed a “definite decrease” in foot and vehicle traffic the day the construction started.
“We’re finding a lot of local restaurants aren’t wanting to be in the area if they don’t have to because it’s obviously very difficult to get around down here and you’re getting re-routed through lots of side streets,” said Williamson. “And then people that are coming in from out of town, (St. David St. N.) was a main roadway for them…so I think it’s definitely deterred people from being in and around the area which is obviously affecting traffic in the door and then sales as well.”
Asking for improved communication on the project, Val Consales co-owner of the Vault said they’ve lost parking and had to shut down during business hours at times due to the construction.
“Construction during the summer is not ideal, it’s definitely our busiest time,” said Consales. “We’ve heard from regulars or people coming into town that it’s been hard for them to find parking or get around because it’s closed and there really aren’t many signs on how to detour around the street so there’s a little bit of frustration going around.”
A construction update from the end of July said phase one of the reconstruction project is "progressing well" and the intersection at St. David St. N. and Garafraxa St. will remain closed until Dec. 15.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program
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