This week, in preparation for our Blue Heron Fair Days preview section, I talked to fair co-ordinator Brenda Visser about if the road construction on Rodeo Drive would have any impact on the festivities.
The answer as you have read is no. In fact, the Barrhead and District Agricultural Society has arranged for more activities and entertainment than ever.
Kudos to them and I, for one, am looking forward to seeing and taking part in much of what they have planned.
However, that got me thinking what impact the road construction has had on the businesses impacted by the construction due to the 50th Avenue rehabilitation project.
Now don’t get me wrong I understand this work needs to be done and being that we live in northern Alberta there is a limited window in which to complete the project, especially one as large as 50th Avenue which not only includes the road and sidewalk, but the infrastructure underneath, but that being said did the powers that be do enough to tell us, how to navigate the construction?
I’m not so sure.
Yes, there are the obligatory detour signs that tell us the road is blocked, but what about signs, advertising, et. cetera telling us how to get to certain businesses. Recently while I was out walking my dog trying to find my way around the construction myself, going through back alleys and the like, I saw two or three business who created handmade signs to tell them that they were open for business and how shoppers could get to their businesses.
Unfortunately, I don’t think the signs are particularly effective. When a person is traveling in a vehicle they were difficult to see. Even on foot, I had problems making them out.
I’m not necessarily saying it is the town’s responsibility per se to tell residents and passersby how to access areas impacted by construction, but it should be someone’s.
What I would suggest is that the next time the town tenders a construction project, where access to neighbourhoods, or more importantly businesses, that they include an advertising component.
Let it be the company who is doing the work’s responsibility to let people know how long it will be until a project is completed, or put up appropriate signage telling people that businesses in the area are open for business and how to access them.
It is certainly something worth considering.
