Bedford highway construction slows traffic through the doors of businesses
The Bedford highway has been undergoing construction since June 2 and is progressing in phases.
'The work on Bedford Highway involves asphalt removal, curb and gutter repairs, roadway base and patching, catch basin adjustments, hardware adjustments, and various concrete sidewalk and driveway apron replacements,' says Laura Wright with Halifax regional municipality in a statement to CTV News Atlantic.
The city adds that the project is part of the municipality's ongoing efforts to improve infrastructure and road safety. Although businesses in the area say it's slowing traffic through their doors.
'People are calling just to see if we are open and at that point you don't know how many people are thinking the same thing and just avoid Jim's all together,' says Voula Mihelakos, one of the owners of Jim's Family Restaurant.
Mihelakos explains that construction has been ongoing around Flamingo Drive and down to the highway until Kearney Lake Road for about a month now and it's turning off customers.
'We rely on summer and these days having a restaurant business is hard to begin with and everything costs more, wages, food costs, you are already going uphill, and this just made it that much harder,' says Mihelakos.
She explains that they found out about the work being done the day before it started.
'They said it is supposed to be over around now. Just today they said it is almost done, I don't know what that means because I haven't gotten a new letter telling me what has been done. Every week I get a new letter delivered to me and it's them telling me that you know that we are going to be working on your driveways and then just to find out two days later that they are not working on our driveways, but all their trucks have been parked in front of our restaurant,' says Mihelakos.
'I called the city to see what's up and who's compensating us small businesses for having to put up with all this and I basically go I don't know, and they are investigating it for 30 days so I still don't know if I will be compensated for this,' adds Mihelakos.
As far as Councillor Jean St-Amand knows, compensation isn't really an option for this type of work.
'Currently there's no financial compensation for businesses for capital projects. It's something that has happened in some jurisdictions. The Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses made a presentation to council a couple of months ago just trying to walk us through about what the basic idea was. There are obviously costs associated to having a program that's spoon up like that and setting up the rules for compensation for businesses of different sizes so there are complexities to bringing something like that forward,' says Jean St- Amand, District 16 Councillor for HRM.
According to the municipality they do not provide compensation for business impacts related to construction.
'It remains committed to completing these essential projects as quickly and safely as possible while minimizing disruptions,' says Wright on behalf of the Municipality in a statement.
Jean St-Amand is the district councillor for the area along the highway where construction is next scheduled.
'The next phase will involve hardware adjustments, final paving, and line painting,' says Wright on behalf of the HRM in a statement to CTV News Atlantic.
'Everybody wants for Bedford highway to be fixed, to be smooth, to not have potholes, to have curbs to ensure that the water drains correctly but they also don't want to experience the congestion that doing that repair work means.'
The city explains that crews are close to completing the curb and gutter repairs along one side of the roadway and have advanced asphalt removal and concrete work.
For restaurants like The Orient Cuisine, it's been confusing for their customers to access to their restaurant.
'It was because a couple weeks ago after that discussion with the contractor on Friday morning, and I was here Monday and Tuesday morning I came in and literally my driveway disappeared, and I am sure lots of people in the city see the pictures and I have no access to it. I was questioning myself and so I walked down the street, and everybody else's driveway is still intact but mine,' says Ivan Chan, The Orient Cuisine Owner.
Chan says that throughout this roadwork, many of his regulars have been asking him whether they are open because it can be deceiving from the road.
'I have customers tell me we don't look open and they don't want to drive their car through that gravel thing, whatever it looks like, half of the time I have to move the pylon because it doesn't line up and when I come in rush hour I have to stop and move it before I even drive into my own driveway,' adds Chan.
'When something happens, you rely on the regulars, and we are hearing that even our regulars saying I turned away last week because of the construction.'
Chan just hopes that this doesn't impact them long term, and customers don't stop coming there all together.
Mihelakos also points out that she feels people are currently avoiding this area all together right now because when you put their location in apps like google maps, the directions show up as red and yellow, so people just choose other restaurants and locations all together.
'As I understand, it's got only a few weeks left before it's finished in and around the Kearney Lake Road area,' adds St-Amand.
The entire project is scheduled to be completed by the end of September provided weather and site conditions remain favourable.
Bedford Highway construction
The Bedford highway has been undergoing construction since June 2nd and is progressing in phases. (Emma Convey/CTV News)
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