Construction on Sydney, N.S., street complete

Phase two of a $9-million redevelopment project of Sydney, Cape Breton's downtown core wrapped up on Wednesday. 

Scott MacVicar has been the owner of Spinners Men's Ware for 40 years; the store itself has been located on Charlotte Street for more than seven decades.

Thursday marked the first time in months traffic was flowing freely on the street.

“It's fantastic. It’s great to see the street open. It's going to be great to see customers coming back to Charlotte Street. Hopefully we will have more customers than we ever had before,” said MacVicar.

That's the hope for many businesses, who say they have suffered financially through the construction phase.

“It wasn't nice. Any construction is like doing your kitchen over, it's never been pleasant, but it had to be done,” said MacVicar.

Michelle Wilson is the head of the Sydney Downtown Development Association, which is offering people a chance to shop and win, and she says the last couple of months have been challenging for everyone.

“I think at the end of the day, it's going to be six years (ago) tomorrow that NSCC announced it was moving downtown, so there's so many other great things that are happening that people just stuck through,” said Wilson.

The goal of the project is to make Charlotte Street more accessible and pedestrian friendly.

There are now wider sidewalks, trees, benches, and parking on both side, with traffic now reduced to just one lane.

“The feedback that we're getting is really positive and people are excited for what they're seeing and i think it will build community pride and people will want to spent more time here,” said Wilson.

A third and final phase, between Wentworth Street to Townsend Street, will be completed next construction season.

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