Marine Drive business owners say things are getting back to normal now that traffic has returned to the busy thoroughfare closed for more than a week because of a sinkhole.
The hole was fixed on December 23 and customers are now returning or are less inconvenienced when doing business along the stretch between Main and Fraser streets.
“The problem was that the traffic authority people were extremely rude,” said Esther Schoenwandt, who owns the Minuteman Press Printing franchise on Marine Drive.
“Technically, a lot of vehicles could get to us but a lot were turned around. Even delivery trucks were turned around. That meant that some customers had to park in alleys. Depending on how much you’re delivering, you cannot schlep it around the corner.”
Schoenwandt said she doesn’t think she lost much business during the time the sinkhole was disrupting traffic. But she likes that her customers for items such as envelopes, business cards and brochures are no longer inconvenienced.
“I’m not an expert on whether they should have worked around the clock to fix the hole. They did work late, and many mornings, when I came early they were already working.”