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Work on a $2.1-million water transmission main near Sydney’s downtown core is almost finished, after months of frustration, water shut-offs and traffic disruptions.

The Cape Breton Regional Municipality announced in August that it was beginning work to replace a 127-year-old water main along George Street. According to the municipality, the water main services nearly 5,000 customers, which includes downtown Sydney.

Through email releases and posts on social media, the municipality informed residents at times during the five-month stretch that water would be turned off for several hours. However, some claim some shut-offs impacted residents and businesses for several days.

“We lost a Saturday in the lead-up to Christmas, which for us is, you know, a pretty big deal,” said James Walsh, owner of Doktor Luke’s, a coffee shop in downtown Sydney.

“We rely on certain times of year for revenue generation, right? So to lose one of those Saturdays in the lead-up to the shopping season once the tourism season is done, it does really hurt us, you know?”

Walsh said the business was forced to either close, alter hours or work with little or no water pressure during parts of the months-long project. Even after the municipality said stages of work had been completed and the water turned back on, the business struggled with poor water pressure, Walsh said.

“Even with a low-pressure day where we are kind of still able to operate and you know, the machine relies on a certain level of pressure,” he said.

“At those times, the quality of my product is compromised. So even though I’m here, I’m operating, I’m still able to provide the service that I want, I can’t provide it to the level that I’m accustomed to and my customers are accustomed to.”

The municipality said as of Tuesday a layer of asphalt had been paved on the street, meaning the project is hopefully nearing completion.

“A very, very complicated project … involving very large underground infrastructure,” said Christina Lamey, communications manager for the municipality.

“It’s the key water main transmission into the downtown Sydney area and actually covers areas up through Ashby and Whitney Pier and the infrastructure there was over 120 years old.”

With the work winding down, Walsh said he hopes the municipality will communicate more effectively on future projects that impact a large number of residents.

“For CBRM, communication is obviously key. It makes a big difference letting us know in advance,” he said. “But the major thing is to commit to timelines. If you can commit to timelines, then you know you’re not going to run into as much frustration from our perspective.”

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