Ottawa's 'crazy' construction snarls downtown traffic, bedevils businesses

Just like the months leading up to it, June brings construction to roads headinginto, out of and through Ottawa's downtown.

Sections of Bank Street (at Queen Street), Lyon Street (at Gladstone Avenue), Preston Street (at Albert Street, on weekends)and Queen Elizabeth Drivewayare getting a bit of work done this month, joining roads such asMain Street, Nicholas Street, Booth Street and the Transitway,where construction isalready in progress.

• Mobile users tap here to see a map of major central Ottawa construction zones this summer

Much of the work is related to the construction of the Confederation Line, expected to be finished in 2018.

Here's what some business owners and commuters hadto say about Ottawa's summer of construction:

Betina Franko, drives from Rideau Street area

"Sometimes walking is faster at this stage... Usually I'm 10 minutes [of driving] away and now I'm planning 45 minutes to get in."

"I just have to plan around it I guess. It's pretty busy. Nothing I can do, just hope for the best. I guess there's two seasons in Canada: construction and winter."

Nasser Aboueldaoule, owns Friends Coffee Co. nearQueen and Bank

"It's not good for the business, of course. Especially for small businesses like us. We don't do very good. We are suffering now just to [last through] this construction."

"[Sales have] dropped more than 50 to60 per cent down from where we were before. I've been here since 2002, it's completely different now."

"This is a family business, we were working five to six people before and now I'm running the business by myself."

Patrick Lalonde, takes busdowntown

"It's good news for citizens of Ottawa... It's hard for now but we understand in a few months, I hope it's going to be finished."

"I'm from Montreal and normally it has a lot of traffic. Ottawa never had that kind of traffic but since there's construction everywhere we have a lot of traffic, [whether you're] in a bus or car. It's kind of similar [to Montreal]."

Carolyn Rowe, manager at Green Rebel restaurant on Queen Street

"[It's] a really big mess but it's not as bad as we thought it would be...I honestly thought that our doors here [on Queen Street] would be barred and nobody would be able to get in this way but they've left a big wide open space for us to get in."

"Hopefully more construction workers come and eat something... If they're working hard all day long out there they may as well come in. We've got chili, at least that's a pretty 'tough guy' meal. We've been trying to up-sell that."

"We're doing pretty well. I can't complain."

Mussia Abrehe, drives downtown

"There is always construction, fixing the road. It's expected every summer but in downtown it's better to park and ride instead of driving these days... This year I'll do that, park and ride to work."

Tewelde Kalaty, Ottawa taxi driver formore than 28 years

"The construction is crazy, the traffic is crazy."

"This is the worst year [for traffic]in my experience."

"You see it everywhere. It's not good for tourists, it's not good for everything. It's too heavy. It's like you live in Toronto or Montreal. This is not Ottawa traffic."

Daniel Hayston, owner of Moulin de Provence

"Our decision to locate on Queen Street was pretty much based on the LRT moving to Queen Street and all of the pedestrian traffic moving from Albert and Slater [streets] onto Queen."

"It's a pretty busy corner, business might be diminished in the beginning but six months down the road... we should be OK."