Edmonton’s Fort Road fully operational after three years of construction

After three years of construction, this stretch of Edmonton’s Fort Road has finally opened. However, one business shared their frustration as it affected their business hard. 

Ali Chaaban has owned Fader Barber since March 2020, saying the last four years have been difficult from the COVID-19 pandemic to years of construction on Fort Road.

“We’ve lost a lot of business over the last three years,” explained Ali Chaaban Owner of Faded Barber.

He says his business has lost an estimated 50 to 70 per cent of profits.

“We got less customer. We had to reduce our prices on the services so that we can get new customers, just to get people at the door. We spent a crazy amount of dollars on advertising and marketing just to get people just to stay open,” said Chaaban.

The $87 million construction project was needed to widen Fort Road from four lanes to six between 125 Avenue and 66 Street, and add a second railway overpass.

“We understand that it’s frustrating and it could be an inconvenience. But we really wanna work with the businesses which we have along the corridor plus the Fort Road included to try to inform the public that they’re open for business and how to get there,” said Kris Lima, the director of Yellowhead Trail Freeway Conversion.

It’s not all bad news, Feross Salame with YEG Vape is looking forward to the new and improved Fort Road, having taken over the business last November.

“We know that Fort Road was actually being reopened soon, so we saw that as an opportunity to boost the business,” said Salame.

Just two businesses could be impacted by a decision at city hall this week. A motion to compensate businesses impacted by major construction projects is on the agenda for Wednesday, but councillor Anne Stevenson, says it’s a tricky debate.

“So the biggest challenge is how we fund this. There’s no city obligation to fund this type of compensation, we’re protected under the MGA. I still think is the right thing to do, but finding a funding source for, is really gonna be challenging,” said Stevenson.

Despite the long construction, two business owners have a sigh of relief to see Fort Road is now fully open.