Orange construction signs dot parts of 17 Avenue S.W. and westbound lanes are shut down as utility work is done below the frozen road.
The road work, which spans a couple of blocks, has already raised the ire of businesses in the area. It’s just the beginning of a $44-million project set to hit high gear in March.
“This is actually an unbelievably exciting project,” Councillor Evan Woolley said. “We’re going to have a better street for the businesses, the people that live there and the thousands of people that visit 17 Avenue every year.”
But not everyone is as enthused as Woolley and they have concerns about what this will mean for Calgary’s entertainment district.
“We depend a lot on our summer business because it’s cold here. So it’s tricky when they’re going to have a ‘road closed’ sign at the top of 17 Avenue. Who is going to come down here?” said Jennifer Leblond, owner of the store Steeling Home.
Partial and full road closures are expected to start in less than eight weeks and will span 17 Avenue from Macleod Trail to 14 Street S.W. Construction is expected to last nearly two years.
Leblond is supportive of the upgrades but said she just found out about the full road closures last week.
“Never once up until February 1st did (the city) mention road closure. It was always partial road closure, partial, partial, partial.”
Other businesses are echoing that sentiment. Jon Molyneux works with Concorde Entertainment Group, which operates several restaurants and bars in Calgary. He said he was completely blindsided by the city.
“We feel like it was a bit of a bait and switch to be honest. The city did not communicate its plans properly.”
But Woolley is standing firm.
“We’ve been talking about this project for three years now. To say you didn’t know this project was happening means you didn’t have your eyes open as best as you could.”
City officials with the project were not available for an interview with Global News on Tuesday, but said they are reviewing their plans and expect to comment later in the week.