Business owners cheer 50 Street upgrade plans
Rail underpass, additional lanes promise relief from traffic congestion
Perry Hendricks’ office has a view of the train yard beside 50 Street — and the traffic backed up “quite literally, for miles.”
“You can tell when the train’s coming through because it just starts backing up on Sherwood Park Freeway because the offramp is full,” Hendricks, who has worked from the same office since 1981, said Tuesday.
Hendricks, general manager of Hendricks Construction Ltd., calls it “good news” that there will now be $39.8 million in federal funding toward an $87.5-million project to build a rail underpass across the Sherwood Park Freeway, as well as expand 50 Street to six lanes from 76 to 90 avenues. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the funding Tuesday in Edmonton.
Other businesses in the area are also glad for the road upgrades for similar reasons, including Teri Taplin, owner of Canine Quarters, a dog grooming business. She gets calls from clients alerting her they’re going to be late about once a day.
“That train (costs) a lot of clients a lot of gas and a lot of time,” she said. “The trains are up, down and all around”
Automotive shop owner Yang Zheng Li was also glad to hear about the funding, but said the project should have been done years ago. He’s owned his shop, JS Automotive Centre Ltd., for four years; in that time, traffic congestion had him consider relocating his business.
“I can’t remember how many times I’ve been stuck ... and how many times customers have been stuck,” Li said.
Barry Mah, general manager of Cliff’s Towing, was also looking forward to the project. The train is inconvenient, holding back drivers and customers.
“(The train will cross) the one time you need to get to a meeting, or the one time you’re delivering something,” Mah said.
Business owners said common times for trains to cross 50 Street are early in the morning, noon, 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Despite the inconvenience, some businesses aren’t entirely frustrated. Hendricks was always thankful for what the trains bring to Edmonton’s economy — with the underpass and lane expansion, he can be thankful that they’ll bring less congestion.
“(The trains) move our goods, they move our products, and at times they do close up roadways for 10 or 15 minutes, but our standard of living is really tied to what they do,” he said.
“Good on this piece of road finally being upgraded so that they continue to provide their commerce ... and we’re no longer in each other’s way.”