Letter: Consider taxpaying businesses when scheduling construction

By Letter to the Editor on September 12, 2024.

Dear editor,

With summer ending and road construction finishing, we can see the devastation again plaguing the downtown core.

I have had discussions with a few businesses downtown and heard of the significant loss of business and associated revenue, with most even asking why they are open. The city has the right to make the needed repairs and improvements, but it also must mitigate damages for those affected.

I find it confusing why, in southern Canada, there can not be two crews a day doing the construction in the summer. One could run from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., the second from 2 p.m. until 10 p.m., or one from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and the second Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

Both of these methods are used in industry to minimize downtime due to maintenance. If the excuse is lack of manpower, then instead of doing two jobs, combine the crews onto one job and then reduce the effect on both projects.

It is too late for this year, but hopefully, in the future, the city will consider the taxpayers as customers and not just a supply of money and try to earn their loyalty like all businesses need to.

The city needs to realize that these businesses still have hard costs to cover, including daily property tax. The city needs to take very seriously that they are dealing with people’s present and future life and their employees, and a couple of low-watched videos on YouTube and small ads in the paper will diminish the damage.

This approach needs to be adopted in all areas of the city affected by construction.