Cookstown merchants are hoping a major construction project at the main intersection doesn’t take too big a bite out of business.
Workers began tearing up sidewalks and replacing hydro poles last Monday as they prepare to replace the traffic lights and repave the intersection at King and Queen streets.
The work is expected to be complete by July 1. Until then, there will be some disruptions for traffic and pedestrians, although the intersection will never be closed down completely.
Construction is always bad for business, but with Wing Ding around the corner downtown Cookstown merchants fear it could hamper their busiest time of year.
The annual festival, which is June 6,7,8 this year, brings thousands of shoppers to the quaint village.
Cookstown Chamber of Commerce president Laurie Munroe, who operates Will Silks General Store, is concerned the construction will keep shoppers away.
“This could squash us for eight weeks,” Munroe said. “It will be down to one lane at times and we could lose some on-street parking. I know I’m sounding like Miss Doom and Gloom, but we just had the worst winter in years.”
However, she has been assured by Town officials that construction equipment will be cleared away and the area will be temporarily back in order for Wing Ding.
“They know our concerns,” Munroe said.
The construction will replace the deteriorating traffic signals and repave the intersection. The Town of Innisfil received a $325,000 grant from the Ministry of Transportation for the $418,000 project.
Merchants agree the work must be done on the intersection, which sees thousands of heavy trucks that sometimes clip the traffic light poles as they take sharp turns.
But they also wish the work would have been put off until fall, when tourist traffic decreases.
“Hopefully the weekend traffic won’t be impacted as much,” said Ingrid Schienke, who operates Gallery on Queen. “With construction, people just may not want to stop, with the smells, the noise and the dust.”
Schienke said the spring construction may “turn people off” for the entire summer, even though the work it is expected to end by July 1.
“I dread it, but if it has to be done, it has to done,” she said. “I just wish it could have been a fall contract.”
Innisfil Council approved the work for spring to take advantage of savings on a tender price based on spring construction, a town document shows.
Mary Jane Culgin, who operates Grainne O’Maille on the southwest corner of the intersection, hopes the construction is only “short term pain for long term gain”.
She hopes it will give truckers, who she says aren’t always the most courteous drivers, more room to maneuver through the intersection.
“I’m surprised none of them have run into my store,” she said.
Culgin added the intersection itself is in dire need of being repaired.
Meanwhile, merchants hope the construction doesn’t cause shoppers to steer around Cookstown.
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A few clouds and 27°C
A few clouds and 27°C
