Eglinton Crosstown delay will continue to hurt small businesses: BIA chair
The latest delay of the Eglinton Crosstown transit line will further hurt small businesses that have already been bearing the “brunt” of the long-term construction project, says the chair of the Eglinton Way BIA.
Maureen Sirois told CP24 on Monday that many Eglinton business owners are frustrated following an announcement from Metrolinx on Friday that it would not be able to meet a previously-set target of September for completion of the project.
“It is outrageous that it should be going on this long,” said Sirois. “This is the third delay that we’ve faced with regards to Metrolinx and it’s really disappointing and people are really frustrated.”
Metrolinx offered no new target date for completion of the LRT.
Sirois said that many businesses have been impacted by the construction for over a decade since it began in 2011, but haven’t had any direct compensation from Metrolinx.
Construction on the line began in 2011 and was initially scheduled to be completed in 2020.
The project, however, has been plagued by repeated delays.
“There’s been absolutely no compensation directly to any of the businesses,” said Sirois. “The businesses have been bearing the brunt of the construction of this important infrastructure project.”
Sirois stressed that none of the businesses in her BIA are against the project and that they celebrate more transit being built in the city, however she said that “transit should not be built on the backs of small business.”
In a statement on Friday, Metrolinx CEO Phil Vester said that Crosslinx Transit Solutions, the construction consortium responsible for building the project, had fallen behind schedule and was unable to finalize construction and testing.
Vester added that Metrolinx would do “everything to hold Crosslinx Transit Solutions accountable and to redouble efforts to meet their commitments” but he did not provide a new timeline.
“This could go on for a year, 18 months, god forbid 24 months,” Sirois said. “We don’t need this, it has to be completed.”
Crosslinx previously filed a lawsuit against Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario in October 2020 in which they argued that they should not be held accountable for delays or cost overruns on the project because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A judge eventually sided with the consortium and the two sides renegotiated an agreement in December that would have seen the line substantially completed by September 2022 and in operation several months later.
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