Traffic is once again flowing smoothly along Fort Road — a sight that hasn’t been seen in three years along the northeast Edmonton thoroughfare.
Major roadwork along portions of Fort Road caused traffic chaos for drivers and a nightmare for businesses in the area.
Crews were working to widen Fort Road to six lanes from Yellowhead Trail to 66th Street. The road was also lowered to increase the clearance of the CN Rail underpass.
For Ali Chaaban, owner of Faded Barber Shop in the area, the news is difficult to celebrate.
“Hopefully that means business comes back to normal after three years of being closed,” Chaaban said.
Chaaban said the Fort Road closure blocked easy access to his storefront and almost pushed the business to permanently closing, after struggling to survive from COVID-19 restrictions.
He had to lower prices to entice customers to come back to his store.
“We survived through COVID and then this came around and shortly after COVID, and dramatically, it dropped our business over 50 per cent just because people couldn’t access our plaza anymore,” Chaaban explained.
The construction started in August 2021 and a bulletin from that time said the project should be finished in “Fall 2023.”
The city said during full closures, they ensured businesses and pedestrians were informed.
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“During the project, we had traffic flowing through the area at all times. Whether it was Fort Road or detoured onto 66th Street so we did accommodate traffic and pedestrians,” Kris Lima, the city of Edmonton’s Yellowhead Trail conversion director, told Global News.
The city confirmed all lanes opened as of early Monday morning.
“I know it’s been a little bit long coming but we’d like to thank the patience of the residents and the local businesses,” Lima said.
Global News spoke with several businesses along Fort Road. Many said the reopening isn’t worth celebrating following the years of pain they felt as business owners. Some say the repercussions still hurt their bottom line.
“They should pay us, you know, the losses that we could prove that we lost over the years,” Chaaban said.
However, there is optimism for some business owners, like Feross Salame. He took over YEG Vapes in November 2023. He believed the end result of the construction would be beneficial to the community.
“The area wasn’t the best before so they’re definitely giving it a facelift,” Salame explained. “You gotta look at the cup half full sometime, you know what I mean?”
It’s a sign of hope to bounce back for long-standing businesses, and start fresh for new ones.
“What excited me? Honestly, just to know that people are going to be coming through here more. Probably get more eyes on the shop. Get more traffic through here,” Salame said.
Chaaban credits loyal customers with helping to stay afloat.
” If it wasn’t for the community, we probably get shut down,” Chaaban said.