A major upgrade to ease traffic flow around Polo Park is open in time for the busy shopping season.

The extension of St. Matthews Avenue from St. James Street to Route 90 is complete.

Both roadways have since been widened and some intersections saw major improvements.

"Installing protected left turn bays allows better throughput of traffic on St. James and avoids people being impatient and circling around and putting them in danger,” said Lester Dean, the city’s acting director of infrastructure.

The changes were part of an area roadwork project worth $43.5 million and came just in time for the holiday season.

The St. James Village Biz says congestion drives away shoppers stressed out from traffic headaches.

"For this to be open, and relieve some of that stress, it means it will keep some of our community shoppers in our community shopping,” said Jennifer Mathieson with the St. James Village Biz.

But progress has its downside – many businesses were forced to relocate to make room for the extension.

Luis Cabral's automotive shop remains, BUT the owner says he lost tens of thousands of dollars a month in business during construction.

On top of that, he says the city expropriated part of his parking lot where these cars are still parked because – in the end – the city didn’t need the space to complete the project.

"Pretty dumb. Pretty stupid. Lot of waste of money and it hurts the businesses big time because I know with us we hand to change everything around,” said Cabral.

Fourteen properties were expropriated for the project; however, only three have settled on a purchase price.

A report to the city's finance committee says the remaining settlements could impact the final cost of the project, which is yet to be completed.

Some sidewalk work and landscaping are yet to be done, along with future upgrades planned for Empress Avenue to widen it and improve a nearby bike and walking path.