The construction of the Marda loop road took several months

The construction work on the Marda loop, which has been a headache for local business owners for more than a year, is now going on for another five to six months.

Initially, project Stretching along 33rd Avenue SW from Crowchild Trail to 19th Street and from Crowchild Trail to 18th Street on 34th Avenue, it is expected to be completed this November – now the timeline has been moved to next summer.

The work has been a nightmare for many local businesses, including Brent de Decker, general manager of Boogie's Boogers, who says revenue has dropped significantly since the project began 14 months ago.

“This year alone, we have seen a 15-17 percent drop in home business,” he says. “It's a major hit.”

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De Decker said many customers stopped coming because of the constant parking and road closures. He said he was disappointed to hear about the construction extension, but he wasn't surprised because the original timeline was “optimistic.”

Cameron Fraser is the owner of Fraser & Fig and said revenue has dropped by about 20 per cent since the road works began.

“It's such a mess that customers don't come back,” he says. “Every day, every week, there were different road closures, different detours.”

“There was no consistency and no planned strategy.”

Most of the work along 33rd Avenue should be completed by late summer 2024, but the rest of the project has been extended to summer 2025.

In March, Calgary city councilors approved a one-time grant of $5,000 to businesses affected by the construction, after a number of business owners took their concerns to Mayor Jyoti Gondek.

Bob Van Wegen, executive director of the Marda Loop Business Improvement District, says the grant is appreciated but not enough to offset the impact of the project.

“It will be beneficial in some cases, but for most businesses it's not a huge amount compared to the costs they might have to bear,” he says.

De Dekker calls the grant a “drop in the bucket.”

The pilot project supports 146 businesses in Marda Loop.