LONDON, ONT. -- Vehicles moving along Dundas Street in Old East Village (OEV) is a pleasant sight for business owners.
Phase one of the construction project between Ontario and English Streets was completed Friday.
"This is going to make it easier," says Kaleb Elie of the Artisan Baker on Dundas St.
"It is very nice to see Dundas St. with new lines. I'm sure there is more construction to come on this project but hopefully it won’t affect us at this end."
Between a pandemic and the road closure it has a been a tough go for those who set up shop in that stretch.
"We definitely had a decrease in amount of people coming in," says Forest Dipinto-Stroud of Bread and Roses Books.
"However if people knew if it was there they came. A lot of people wanted to support local businesses that are being affected by construction, so it was cool to see them come in and ask how things were going."
Work was done to widen sidewalks, install a separated bike lane and improve lighting.
"We had a big dig that had to deal with old sewer infrastructure," says Jesse Helmer, Ward four councillor who lives near Dundas St.
"I'm glad we didn't put it off during the pandemic. There was discussion about putting it off and I'm glad it was done safely. It's a difficult project to do during any circumstances but especially during COVID."
Even though the construction is complete, there is another potential obstacle on the horizon.
However if there is a provincial lockdown, the re-opening of the street will help businesses.
"Construction was directly in front of us so we lost a lot of parking," says Elie.
"During the beginning of COVID we had to start with online orders to serve our customers, and having construction and only two parking spots was really difficult. Hopefully moving forward with spots in front of the church and new bike lanes will have some access for customers to do curbside pickup."
Phase two of this project from west of Rectory St. to Adelaide St. will take place in 2021.
