For over 20 years, Carol’s Sweets has brightened up the southwest edge of Edmonton’s downtown core with it’s colourful and exotic sweet treats.
“We’ve been actually making chocolates in Edmonton,” said Carol Logan, Owner of Carol’s Sweets.
Lately, business has been tough, between lengthy bridge repairs choking off incoming traffic, construction jamming up roads and a pandemic closing the doors.
“It’s hard. It’s really difficult for small businesses and for recovery, we don’t need another bridge going out. We don’t need another disruption in this corner of our city,” said Logan.
Edmonton Wellington Bridge is just a couple short blocks away from Carol’s Sweets. It’s nearly a hundred years old, built in 1932, and past its service life.
Temporary reinforcement has helped carry thousands of vehicles over the Ramsay Ravine every day since 2014 but the aging worn down structure is set to be rebuilt in late 2025, reviving concerns for businesses on 102nd ave.
“How do you get in from the west? You can’t get out from the east. It’s going to become so hard to come to high street. What are we all going to do? How do we keep having these events? It’s been 22 years of having one event after another event,” said Logan.
Logan hopes the city will consider delaying the project, but city councillor Andrew Knack knows that isn’t an option at this point.
“If you don’t replace it, then you create a massive safety issue. Bridges are one of the few things that you can’t try to extend the life a few extra years,” said Andrew Knack, Councillor at Nakota Isga Ward.
Knack says it’s no longer safe to stand on it’s own, and it’s just a matter of time before the wellington bridge becomes an unacceptable safety risk.
He highlights traffic won’t be completely closed off, as the stony plain road will reopen before the new work begins.
“We know that businesses have been feeling the pain of this because we know commuters have been feeling the pain of this. You’re still going to have a bridge closed down, but it’s not going to be both at the same time. That was a really important element to this work from the very beginning,” said Knack.
Construction is expected to take about a year, before the new bridge will restore the flow of traffic along 102 avenue.
For carol’s sweets, she fears another lengthy construction project so close to the store will cast a dark cloud over it’s future.