Quinpool Road construction hurting sales: Halifax businesses

Halifax business owners and employees say they’re frustrated that there are fewer parking spots along a busy road due to construction.

“People are telling us they have to park a couple streets away, and most people are just saying they’re not going to bother, they’re going to come back another day,” said Gerry Lonergan, owner of East Coast Bakery.

The two westbound lanes of the four-lane Quinpool Road at Preston Street were blocked off on Monday, forcing drivers going in either direction to share the two eastbound lanes several metres before and after the intersection.

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One westbound lane was blocked off for about half a block further, several metres beyond Monastery Lane.

“Well, the work is happening way back there [at Preston Street], and they could probably just close it a little closer to that rather than closing the whole street,” Lonergan said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Well, the work is happening way back there [at Preston Street], and they could probably just close it a little closer to that rather than closing the whole street," Lonergan said.

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The construction is for traffic signal upgrades, and 160 notices of the construction were delivered to nearby businesses and homes in the area on June 13.

“It’s part of a larger traffic signal rehabilitation process across the municipality, just basically bringing old traffic signals up to new standards,” said Nick Ritcey, a municipal spokesperson.

The detour will continue while crew members work between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. daily until Friday.

Lonergan, and other people who work on that stretch of the road, said that there have been several other parking disruptions in the area over the last few months.

Business goes down 30 per cent at his bakery each time, he said.

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Daniel Berube, floral designer at the nearby Flower Trends Florists, said fewer parking spots have made deliveries of delicate plants to and from the shop difficult.

Coupled with construction, including from a new building a block away on the road, potential customers don’t want to visit the area, he added.

“It just makes it a little inconvenient for everybody,” Berube said.