They say there are four seasons in Alberta — almost winter, winter, still winter and construction — and this year in Calgary there has been no shortage of road work causing traffic chaos.
“It feels like week-to-week they change which road is being blocked off,” said Peter Podgorny, who lives in Marda Loop.
“You’re coming back home from work and all of a sudden it’s blocked off! You take a corner, it’s blocked off, too!”
According to the City of Calgary’s website, there are 28 road work projects on the go, causing the commuting headaches. Heading into September, those pinch points will only increase.
“We’re leaving (home) a lot less,” said Podgorny. “In the past it’d be like, ‘I can just jump over to Safeway because I forgot something,’ and now it’s like, ‘I’m not going to go at all.’”
The 4th Avenue flyover and northbound McLeod both have lane closures and Memorial Drive is down to a single lane in both directions.
With the Calgary Board of Education, Calgary Catholic School District and post secondaries starting classes this week, along with Calgarians heading back to the office after two months of summer holidays, it is expected to be a return to traffic normalcy — leaving drivers to navigate road closures.
The community of Marda Loop has been dealing with construction frustration all summer. Businesses are feeling the impact of customers unable to find parking or access sidewalks.
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“It’s really hard for people to get here and you really can’t blame them,” said Avery Featherstone, assistant general manager of Belmont Diner.
“It’s not even walkable right now.”
The street in front of the diner is torn up, with a maze of detours for customers to navigate to get to the small eatery. Featherstone says business is down about 50 per cent from last summer and is attributed to the heavy construction.
“We’ve had to adjust our hours and staffing accordingly,” explained Feathersone. “Unfortunately, we’ve had to cut shifts back which is really hard.
“We never want to do that, but it’s just a matter of staying afloat right now.”
The frustration echoed by Phil & Sebastian, a coffee shop that has become a staple in the community.
“There are diehard regulars that come through thick and thin,” said Ralph Gonzalez, a barista at the cafe. “But when it comes to them becoming few and far between regulars, it’s hard.”
Gonzalez says it’s difficult for employees to find parking some days, and for the customers who choose to make the trip to Marda Loop despite the construction, it’s not always a relaxing destination when they get there.
“We’re seeing it in the numbers, we’re seeing it in the attendance,” explained Gonzalez. “Not that many people want to spend their Friday, Saturday or Sunday in a highly constructed area where they can’t even really find some peace because they can hear jackhammering outside.”
It’s not just drivers and businesses struggling with the road closures. Paydon Ross and Troy McGowan take the bus to school from Marda Loop and say all the detours have made them late for school.
“It brings me all the way around and it’s kind of annoying,” said McGowan. “Like, can you please do construction somewhere else?!”
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