Preston businesses brace for impact of King Street construction

Business owners in the Preston area of Cambridge are bracing for another summer of construction and hoping it won't have a big impact on their bottom line.

The Cambridge King Street Reconstruction Project is expected to take two and a half years, and in four phases will address a number of things such as road conditions and sewage issues. 

Dave Brown, the region's transportation project manager, says the project originally started because of "deteriorated road conditions," but, he said, "the sewers are, give or take, 100 years old, so now's the time while we got the roads dug up to renew all of those pipes."  

Some local business owners are supportive of the project, but they're also worried that blocked entrances to their storefronts and the removal of parking spots along the street will keep customers from visiting the area or wandering in. 

"It's worrisome, I guess," said Anna Pauletic of Emilia's Boutique, a store that's been in the neighbourhood for 26 years. 

"I know when you can't park as you would normally out in front, or being able to get in easily, then people think twice, and they're going to go unfortunately where they do have easy parking and an easy access," she said. 

Dave Brown from the region said they are directing drivers to off-street parking lots, which now have extended hours from the city. 

"During construction, we're going to have signage directing patrons and customers to these off street parking lots, which are available for use all the time," he said. 

Preparing for the lull 

Businesses in the area are using different strategies to prepare themselves for what they expect will be a bit of a lull in walk-in customers.

Pauletic says she will be reducing the stock she has for her shop and encouraging customers to use the back entrance to her shop.   

"I'm not buying as much from my suppliers because we don't know how things are going to be and how many people are going to come downtown," she said. 

Virtue Peake, the owner of Virtuous Kitchen, said she designed her business to include catering and workshops because she knew construction was going to happen when she set up shop two years ago. 

"I do have somewhat of a walk-in traffic business, so that part of the business I hope doesn't decline too much," she said. 

Leslie Zinger, the owner of Top Market Family Farms, said they will be extending their shop's hours and focusing on their community service agriculture program. 

Chris Brown, the owner of Anubis Coffee, said he has been doing "crazy" promotion on social media. 

"Letting everybody know we're still open and we're not closed due to construction. Just to inform customers to let them know we're not going anywhere," he said. 

A 'trendy downtown core' 

Despite their concerns about what construction might do to their customer base, shop owners say they're excited for the revival of downtown Preston. 

"I'm pretty happy about it. I know we need it. It's well overdue," said Brown. "I think it's going to spruce up Preston to bring more traffic."

Zinger added she's excited to see the revamped, finished product.

 "You know, kind of give it a bit more of a trendy downtown core and look, and open it up to a new possibility," she said.

Pauletic says she hopes the changes bring it more in line with other downtown areas in Cambridge, such as Galt and Hespeler.

"It's attractive for people to come down, but it's the meantime, right? No pain, no gain, as they say, so it's scary for business," she said.

The construction is schedule to wrap up in fall 2021.