Mountain construction causes headaches for local businesses

This summer, driving in Hamilton has been synonymous with one word: construction. From the closure of the Lincoln Alexander Parkway multiple times due to resurfacing to on-going infrastructure replacement on Upper James at Stone Church, Hamiltonians are facing major delays in their daily commute.

The delays aren’t just affecting those driving on the roads, however – small business owners in the area are being affected by the construction as well.

“It's pretty terrible,” says Ramzey Osseiran. “The water mains are the key. They haven't been replaced in ... 60 years, or so?”

Osseiran manages the Beaver and Bulldog pub on Upper James. Construction crews have been working right in front of the entrances to the plaza where his business resides. Construction has reduced that section of Upper James from five lanes to two, with a turning lane in the centre. This makes getting in and out of the plaza difficult.

“We've also had our water turned off three times. We lost a lunch completely, so we couldn't really open until 5 o'clock because we can't really function without water,” says Osseiran “We probably lost around $800-900 dollars in sales that day.”

It’s the job of Project Manager Jeff Rowen to lessen the blow on people using the road.

“The job itself should be completed, as per the contract, November 11,” he says. “In all fairness, sometimes these dates are hard to match, especially if we end up with extra work issues,” Rowen adds. “Our focus right now is November 11th, and there hasn't been any reason why we can't match that.”

Across from the Beaver and Bulldog, Noah Hamilton works at Pur Nutrition. Since the business primarily sells supplements, it isn’t affected by utility shutoffs, but access remains a problem.

"[There are] two gyms on this road here – it's one of the prime reasons we're actually on this road – so it affects our business, as people trying to cross from Premier [Fitness] aren't going to bother because there's so much chaos,” Hamilton says. “It's not convenient for them right now.”

Farther down Upper James, Craig Denby owns and runs a Quizno’s Sub restaurant and says that getting through the construction adds more time on to what may already be a rushed lunch break.

“This Quizno's is a 'lunch traffic' type of business,” explains Denby. “My traffic’s down over fifty per cent at lunch. There's times where I have an hour, hour-and-a-half without seeing a single person walk into the restaurant, and that makes it really challenging.”

“When people have to spend 20 to 30 of those minutes traveling to one destination, to grab food and back, they're not going to do it.”

But Denby is looking to do something about his problems. The city offers an “injurious affection claim,” which allows owners to seek compensation.

“My wife and I are putting in 50-60 hours a week into this store, unpaid, because we don't have the traffic in [the restaurant] to pay for the kids to work here,” says Denby.

“Maybe, one day, when the traffic does increase, by God's grace, we'll be here, and we can apply for that money.”