‘Zero notification’: construction road closure vexes Exchange District shop owners By: Chris Kitching Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Monday, Mar. 20, 2023 Last Modified: 7:23 PM CDT Monday, Mar. 20, 2023 Updates

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Some business owners in the Exchange District are raising questions about the way Winnipeggers are notified of work-related street closures, saying they weren’t informed before barricades went up outside their shops.

Part of Albert Street was closed south of McDermot Avenue for underground fibre optics work on March 17.

“There was zero notification, which is frustrating,” Krystle Pagkalinawan, who owns Plant Lab Botanical Design, said Monday.

Advance notice, she noted, would have allowed her to prepare and inform customers — via social media, for example — her store’s regular business hours wouldn’t be affected by the barricades.

“It may look like I’m closed, but I’m open. It may look like the sidewalk is closed, but there is access to my store,” said Pagkalinawan.

When it comes to notifying affected properties about an upcoming closure, the onus falls on the contractor, according to the city.

Mike O’Brien, who owns OB1 Contracting Ltd., which is doing the work in question, said his company gave the required three days’ notice to the city while requesting a full closure of a section of Albert.

Area businesses were not individually notified in advance, he confirmed.

“It may look like I’m closed, but I’m open. It may look like the sidewalk is closed, but there is access to my store.”–Krystle Pagkalinawan, owner of Plant Lab Botanical Design

OB1 sends letters to properties when access is completely cut off, such as driveways being blocked. The businesses all still have sidewalk access, and part of Albert is accessible to vehicles via Notre Dame Avenue, O’Brien said.

“All of these businesses are accessible,” he said.

The work on Albert involves trenching across the street at McDermot. Steel plates were bolted to interlocking bricks.

A full closure was necessary because it’s not safe for vehicles to drive over the plates, O’Brien said.

“At the end of the day, we shut the street down for public safety concerns.”

City of Winnipeg spokesman Ken Allen said a full road closure wasn’t originally anticipated.

“However, the contractor encountered safety issues that necessitated a full closure of the roadway until it could address the issue,” he wrote in an email. “In the event of a planned full closure of a section of roadway, the contractor would have been required to provide advance notice to property owners in the area.”

“Should the city improve their processes to check in? Absolutely.”–Coun. Janice Lukes, public works committee chairwoman

According to the city’s temporary traffic control manual, lane closure applicants are required to provide written notice to neighbouring properties if access is going to be affected.

The city’s traffic management branch is tasked with reviewing and approving requests to close roads or bike lanes or sidewalks.

In normal circumstances, a minimum of three business days’ notice is generally required before the start of a lane closure, according to a City of Winnipeg manual.

Two weeks’ notice is required for more complex projects, which include full and directional closures.

After looking into the matter, Coun. Janice Lukes, public works committee chairwoman, said she was informed the city doesn’t follow up to find out if properties were notified as required.

“Should the city improve their processes to check in? Absolutely,” she said. “That’s the angle I’m going to pursue with public works. The city needs a process to ensure the utilities are (notifying properties).”

At the site on Albert Street, she said the contractor wasn’t certain of the stability of the interlocking bricks.

Pagkalinawan said her store — open Wednesday to Saturday and, soon, every Sunday — is among those in the Exchange that get a boost from walk-ins on weekends.

She believes the road barricades, which were set up Friday, were a deterrent for potential customers. There was no construction activity over the weekend.

Pagkalinawan organizes a pop-up market which features about five or six vendors in a vacant storefront on Albert on Saturdays.

The vendors who were supposed to set up March 18 decided not to.

“They cancelled because it looked closed, and they didn’t think people would come in,” said Pagkalinawan, who contacted 311 for information about the work being done on Albert Street.

Michael Duchon, co-owner of Vantage Vintage Boutique, said the store wasn’t notified before the barricades were set up.

“The weekend, for a lot of businesses, is our busiest time to earn money, and it’s slow down here,” Duchon, whose store is in the Telegram Building at Albert and McDermot, said Sunday afternoon.

Allen said the closure is expected to end Friday at 3 p.m.

“Effective (Tuesday) until the end of construction, through traffic will be restored during the morning and afternoon rush hour periods,” he wrote.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching