THUNDER BAY -- Local businesses and their employees have mixed feelings about the closure of a major stretch of Central Avenue.
The city announced Wednesday that a trunk watermain is being installed between Golf Links Road and Amber Drive, a project that is expected to take up to five weeks to complete.
“For us it will definitely have an impact,” said Derek Pohjolainen, a detail manager at Central Car Wash, on Friday. “Our business is hugely dependant on traffic. People driving by… if they see the lineup isn’t long they’ll just pop in. So we're losing a major artery when you close off Central.”
City engineering officials say they had hoped to keep one lane open during the construction, but the nature of the project made it unsafe.
“Right now it’s not looking too bad. Our detailing shop is full, and the summer months are our busy months, so we just hope we’ll get through it,” Pohjolainen added.
Randy Scavarelli, a driver at Auto Parts Central, describes it as “a pain.”
“For our [south deliveries], we have to circle around it and go up Balmoral. When it gets backed up that costs us a lot of time,” Scavarelli said.
Scavarelli and his fellow drivers, who make constant deliveries around the city, wondered why the city hasn’t opened up lanes to compensate for the closure.
Athan Robichaud from Mr. Lube on Central Avenue said that he doesn’t believe the closure will have a great effect.
“We get most of our business from the Balmoral side, so we shouldn’t be affected by it, Robichaud said.”
Similarly, Elizabeth Bennett of Central Body Art says the closure is just the city doing what it needs to.
“I’m just happy Thunder Bay is fixing things.”
“It will just slow down traffic - longer waits for some people,” said Crystal Russell from Bennett’s Bakery. “Stuff like this happens. I don’t think we’ll feel it ourselves.”
