This week provided huge relief for businesses along Calgary’s Stephen Avenue. The city is now postponing a massive construction undertaking along the popular downtown corridor. CTV News first reported on the work plan last week, after business owners complained it would hurt their summer sales. Crews were slated to start on Monday, the day after Stampede wraps up. Businesses say tourist season has yet to peak, and given what they’ve seen with other revitalization projects in the city over recent years, they feared this would turn Stephen Avenue into a ghost town. If the work went ahead as planned, it would have spanned several city blocks from city hall to Mewata Armoury. Work would include replacing old infrastructure and underground utilities and revamping the look of Stephen Avenue, including a wider walkway. The first phase, from 1st Street to Centre Street S.E., would have taken 15 months. On Thursday night, a meeting between the city and businesses resulted in news of the project’s postponement. “The meeting was very positive,” said Stephen Deere, owner of Modern Steak. “They said they would come back with an answer, and they did, which was to pause the program. “We’ll hopefully be meeting later next week for next steps.” The owner of Modern Steak says he’s not only thrilled but also feels heard. Businesses say they are not against revitalization but firmly believe it needs to be rethought, from timeline to design. “We think (the project is) actually quite essential,” Deere said. “There were a lot of details that needed to be sorted out, but the big contentious one was, to be honest, 15 months per block is unmanageable and would close the majority of businesses on Stephen Ave. “So, we want to look at different ways of doing construction, possibly, and how we can get those timelines down to as short as three months.” The city says it is devising some new construction options to reduce the effect on businesses. “Calgary’s economy is thriving, and our commitment to businesses has always been to minimize disruption through thoughtful planning and clear communication while balancing the need to complete critical infrastructure replacement work and alignment with other downtown investments like the Glenbow Museum and the Arts Commons/Olympic Plaza Transformation,” the city said. “We’ve been working with Stephen Avenue businesses over the last several months to develop a construction plan that minimizes business impact. “However, we have continued to hear from some business owners that they remain concerned about how construction will impact their business operations. In response, we will be delaying construction while we continue to explore options that would help further reduce business impacts during construction.” A new timeline will be shared once it’s finalized.
