Ask around uptown Waterloo about the discovery of an old corduroy road beneath King Street, and you’ll get two responses – often at the same time.
People in the area say they’re excited by the find, and what it could demonstrate about local history.
They’re also worried about what the road, and the ensuing archeological dig, means for the timeline of getting King Street back open.
“We’re very patient business owners, for the most part, but at some point we’re going to need that information,” said Mandy Brouse of Words Worth Books.
For Brouse and many other uptown business owners, the key date is Nov. 30.
That’s when they were told King would reopen, after being closed between William and Erb streets since early February.
Brouse says she’s been told “from day one” that the Nov. 30 date could be pushed, potentially threatening the busy holiday shopping period in the area.
“It doesn’t really make us feel that comfortable,” she said.
The corduroy road was found late last week, beneath the intersection of King and Willis Way.
Since then, crews have traced it a bit further down King.
Corduroy roads, also known as log roads, were built by early settlers to southern Ontario, primarily out of logs.
They were seen as easier to navigate than dirt paths, particularly in swampy areas.
“This area was known to be a cedar swamp, and so it was very, very wet and muddy and mucky and impassable by most vehicles,” said Michelle Lee, a heritage planner with the City of Waterloo.
“(The corduroy road) would have been a very uncomfortable way to travel, but it was also sometimes the only way to get over swampy land.”
Construction crews had been warned that they could find a corduroy road beneath the uptown, but didn’t know for sure if it would happen until they first struck it.
Officials say it’s too soon to tell exactly what the discovery will mean for the overall timetable of the work on King.
Avril Fisken, a spokesperson for construction consortium GrandLinq, says the immediate focus is on determining exactly where the road runs.
“Once we know where it is, we can then carefully begin to uncover it – and then the archeologists will document what’s there,” she said.
In the meantime, work has halted along that section of King.
Fisken says it’s “absolutely” possible that the discovery won’t push the overall project past Nov. 30.
“We’re still going for that date,” she said, adding that crews can be moved onto other projects temporarily, and more shifts can be added on King in the future if necessary.
Honey Bake Shop owner Darlene Khounphachangsi says GrandLinq and the Uptown Waterloo BIA have done “all they can” to support businesses – and hope that trend continues.
“We’re hoping that they’ll still be able to do everything that they can to give us that small window of the Christmas season,” she said.
