Retailers and customers along Coquitlam's main drag for furniture shopping will get some relief tomorrow morning (Saturday) when the new King Edward Street overpass opens.
But the 12-week closure of King Edward Street between Lougheed Highway and United Boulevard has not come without its costs, with some Pacific Reach businesses laying off staff and reporting hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost sales.
Even Ikea, the city's number one tourist attraction and the region's biggest home furnishings retailer, felt the impact of the infrastructure work, showing a 10% decrease in revenues over this time last year, spokesperson Jen Knight said.
"It almost killed our business," said Kimberly Nuessler, office manager of Fireplaces To Go, which is on United Boulevard and close to the new viaduct's south end.
Contractors Kiewit/Flatiron often blocked her business' driveway with trucks and put up a sign outside her store that read "Do Not Enter Construction Zone." Potential customers would call to ask where Fireplaces To Go is located but would refuse to come by because they knew United was gridlocked from the construction, Nuessler said.
"When you can't get people through the door, it's insane," she said, adding the company laid off four of its nine employees because of the disruption.
Colby Appleby, manager of Cliffhanger Indoor Rock Climbing Centre, located on Brigantine Drive off United Boulevard, said its business also suffered.
No one was laid off but staff had to be compensated for overtime because groups arrived late for booked times due to traffic tie-ups.
"They knew there was construction," he said. "They left early and they still arrived late. It was really frustrating for them."
Transit was also a problem as the temporary shuttle from Planet Ice wasn't regular and didn't travel the full distance of United Boulevard, he said, noting many regular members decided to switch to the Cliffhanger in Vancouver rather than deal with the commuting delays.
Maurice Gravelle, Coquitlam's general manager of strategic initiatives, said Kiewit/Flatiron worked around the clock for 12 weeks to get the four-lane overpass open on time and on budget.
The overpass is a provincial project, part of the $3-billion Gateway Program to upgrade Highway 1 and twin the Port Mann bridge. The city contributed $7.7 million towards the work while the Beedie Group, which plans to build a waterfront community on the historic Fraser Mills site, forked over $500,000 for the fit-and-finish of the overpass as it will link directly to its future development.
Gravelle said the city communicated with the 550 area business owners and operators through email notifications as often as possible and "we didn't really have much [feedback] during the construction time. Businesses were expecting this project and it's going to make a huge improvement for this area," he said.
As for the temporary Taft detour for drivers travelling from United to Highway 1 westbound, that will be closed as of 8 p.m. tonight (Friday).
The makeshift fire station on Fawcett Road will also shut down soon, said Tony Delmonico, Coquitlam's fire chief. Since early August, the full-time four-person company was called to "numerous incidents" along United, he said, including car accidents and medical emergencies. Having a station close to the scene was invaluable despite the $300,000 operational and $25,000 capital costs to the city, Delmonico said.
Meanwhile, Kiewit/Flatiron crews will continue to put the finishing touches on the overpass in the next three months. The miscellaneous work includes pouring concrete in the two islands in the south leg of the King Edward Street/Lougheed intersection, and building sidewalks and curbs on the south side of United Boulevard, at King Edward Street.
An official grand opening for the public is expected in January, when the project is complete.
For more information on the King Edward Street overpass project, call the city's engineering customer service at 604-927-3500. For queries about the Port Mann/Highway 1 project, call the Gateway Program office at 1-866-999-7641 or go to www.pmh1project.com.
