‘It takes a long time to recuperate’: Woodstock, Ont. completes phase 2 of streetscape project after months of construction

The Downtown Woodstock streetscape beautification project is complete just in time for holiday shoppers, but not everyone is jolly. Bryan Bicknell explains.

Rolling curbs and benches, new street-lighting, planters and crosswalks: it’s all part of the new look for a more modern and accessible downtown Woodstock.

Pedestrian Eve Jasinksi-Whitehead loves what she sees.

“I was just thinking how lovely those flower containers are. Oh, you know it’s really pleasant to be here and walking along this street. I can definitely say that,” she said.

Woodstock has completed phase-two of its Downtown Streetscape Project, which began in the spring.

After months of construction, business owner Erik Wesseling, who owns Floral Buds & Design, says he’s eager to welcome customers back through his front door.

“It started before Mother’s Day, and Mother’s Day is a big day for us. And wedding season, can come through the back door but it’s no fun. But it is back on track. But it takes a long time to recuperate that large gap of revenue, if you can,” said Wesseling.

Doug Marsh, a 38-year downtown veteran, owns Record Works on Dundas Street, and has witnessed first-hand the ups and downs of Woodstock’s downtown business section. He says the phase two completion comes just in time for the busy holiday season.

“Just the aesthetics of it, for one thing. The parking is super-accessible, the roads are clean, the stoplights are new. We’re slowly filling up all the stores,” he said.

Kerry Baird with the Downtown Development Office says she hopes the improvements will bring people downtown, who might not otherwise come.

“We have nice wide sidewalks to walk around. It gives you the ability, if you normally go to one spot, take a walk and go try something else, and go to see a new store that you may not have known was down here,” Baird explained.

Not everyone however is delighting in the downtown improvements.

Each phase cost Woodstock taxpayers approximately $3 million. Coun. Mark Schadenberg says there’s a long list of aging streets that need attention - some areas are as much as 125 years old.

He says the money spent on Dundas Street would have been better used elsewhere.

“The city does not have the money to do any of this work. Phase one and phase two, in my opinion, should never have been done because it did not need to be done. And it’s one of those things where you set your priorities,” he said.

The Streetscape Project is on hold for next year but is expected to pick up again in 2027.