Crews repaired a sinkhole that emerged in a southbound lane of 14th Street Southwest, just south of the Southland Drive intersection, Wednesday afternoon but the sight of pylons along the route is nothing new for motorists in the area.
A section of the lane was closed for several hours during the repair effort that was situated immediately after another unrelated construction-related closure of the same lane.
Construction of the Southwest BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) lane has been underway along 14th Street for months with the lion’s share of the work taking place between 75th Avenue and Southland Drive and there has been additional construction projects in the neighbouring communities related to the southwest leg of the ring road.
A perfect storm of closures occurred over the Easter long weekend when sections of 14th Street and 90th Avenue were closed to accommodate emergency work while the other projects continued.
“You have the bus lane construction, which I personally still question, that’s going on at the same time as other emergency work, ring road construction, but, to add insult to injury, it was also the weekend chosen for tree trimming,” said Ward 11 Councillor Jeromy Farkas. “When you take a look at all of that going on at once, it just makes no sense.”
There has been limited access to the businesses in Glenmore Landing during the BRT construction as the exit from 14th Street has been closed.
“The construction’s been a real pain whether you’re a resident in the area, like me, or if you’re one of the business owners here in Glenmore Landing. It’s been a tough sled to be honest. Given the taxes the way that they are, construction – you never quite know when you can get in and out of areas like Glenmore Landing.”
Parvaneh Vejdani, owner of Gypsy Rose Florist in Glenmore Landing, says the construction has created challenges. “It’s frustrating because, when they closed it, you have to go to the detour and go far away,” explained Vejdani. “Especially for the customers that are coming here for the first time it’s more frustrating because they don’t know the roads. They get lost and then I have to help them to come here.”
Farkas says Heritage Park has also been ‘really hard hit’ by the construction in the area. “I’ve been working as closely as I can with business owners, Heritage Park, and other groups in the community to get a sense of, given the construction is proceeding, how do we better coordinate the work.”
The councillor says he will be bringing an urgent notice of motion to council on Monday, April 29 to explore ways to improve the coordination of construction planning.
With files from CTV’s Kathy Le
