{"id":406,"date":"2014-12-02T13:03:47","date_gmt":"2014-12-02T18:03:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cusjc.ca\/gridlock\/?p=406"},"modified":"2014-12-02T19:49:50","modified_gmt":"2014-12-03T00:49:50","slug":"construction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/gridlock\/construction\/","title":{"rendered":"Rideau construction taking a Toll"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Priscilla Hwang<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Brian<\/a>
Brian Wilson looks out of his store at Rideau construction (Photo \u00a9 Priscilla Hwang)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s noisy. It\u2019s dusty. It\u2019s messy.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s how Brian Wilson, manager of Nestl\u00e9 Toll House Caf\u00e9 on Rideau Street, describes the unpleasant construction that has been disrupting his new business.<\/p>\n

Rideau Street is a major transit line for pedestrians, buses, and cars in Ottawa. Rideau Centre, on the busy thoroughfare, is an important hub for people travelling to and from their destinations.<\/p>\n

Both the mall and street have been undergoing major reconstruction this past year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a little inconvenient when you\u2019re trying to get into and out of the Rideau Centre,\u201d said Jessica Muus, a student at University of Ottawa who travels through the mall on her way to and from class. \u201cThe doors are often blocked off and the bus stops crowded.\u201d<\/p>\n

The street construction began in March and the mall has been going through a series of projects since October 2013.<\/p>\n

John Pilon is a construction worker who\u2019s been working in Rideau Centre for the past six months.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do a lot of night work. If it\u2019s noisy we have to do it after hours,\u201d he said. \u201cWe start from 9:30 at night to 6 o\u2019clock in the morning,\u201d Pilon said.<\/p>\n

But walking in and around the mall mid-morning, the noise is still obtrusive.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/center> <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very loud,\u201d said Jason Sousa. He\u2019s been using transportation through Rideau Street for three years now. \u201cI\u2019ve got to admit it\u2019s not very pleasant being around this area, but once I get on the bus, I don’t think about it anymore. You just have to go through it you know?\u201d<\/p>\n

Sousa also called the construction \u201cvisual pollution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson agrees.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a visual distraction for a lot our customers,\u201d he said. \u201cLooking outside, we have dumpsters right beside us. They\u2019re dumping loads and loads of garbage down every hour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nestl\u00e9 Toll House Caf\u00e9 had its grand opening in November.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of a catch-22 because we\u2019re excited to have a new location and it\u2019s a flagship location,\u201d said Wilson. But he said it hurts that the construction “is right beside us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Employees mop up the floors of the caf\u00e9 every hour from the dust brought in by customers, said Wilson. \u201cPeople are tracking in dust from the construction site, and not from walking on it but just from the sidewalks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very attractive, clean place,\u201d said John Petrolias, who decided to try Nestl\u00e9 Toll House Caf\u00e9 Tuesday. \u201cBut there\u2019s a problem. Not only does the construction look ugly, but it makes it hard to walk around especially when it snows or rains.\u201d<\/p>\n

For business owners like Wilson, the construction is more than just a noisy nuisance. He deals with customer complaints and his business suffers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s also a traffic concern. What I\u2019m finding is that we have buses turning, a lot of trucks unloading right outside our store here,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s chasing a lot of customers away.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n