Queen Street West business owners take issue with what they call disruptive construction
The banging and dust is one thing, but for local businesses on Queen Street West, TTC track replacement work is just another hit to their bottom line.
Clothing store owners Richard Lyle and Jennifer Halchuk say they are angry and frustrated the street is being torn up in the weeks leading up to Christmas shopping season.
“Instability yet again,” Halchuk told CTV News Toronto. “I have no idea what our sales will be and it has me constantly reaching out to people on Instagram and trying my best to get pedestrians to come because no one will come because they can’t park,”
Co-owner Lyle argues the work should be delayed until January.
“Replace the tracks in the loser months not in the weeks leading up to Christmas. That is unfair after a pandemic,” Lyle said. “I mean, we are still in a pandemic, it isn’t over.”
Two blocks east, businesses near Niagara Street are hoping to avoid a similar fate.
CTV News Toronto first spoke with owners last week when they were lobbying the city to delay the track work until January. On Tuesday, they got an answer.
“It is going to start on November 19 instead of November 29 and it will go until December 6 so that is fantastic,” Rob Sysak, of the West Queen West BIA, said.
“It saves ten days, but some members won’t be happy because it still means three weekends of holiday shopping will be impacted, but at least the city came to the table,” Sysak told CTV News Toronto.
Janet Wright owns the nearby FloorPlay Socks. She said the amended construction timeline is not a compromise and small businesses like hers are barely hanging on.
“The people who made this decision will not suffer anything,” she said. “People who own small businesses will be in trouble and be forced to lay off Christmas staff.”
Still, other business owners on the stretch of Queen Street West believe the compromise is better than nothing.
“The city might not be happy with us. The TTC might not be happy with us. We might not be happy with them but in a compromise everyone gets a bit of what they want,” Doc Von Lichtenberg, owner of Doc’s Leathers, told CTV News Toronto.
The city said it recognizes the challenges faced by local businesses, however, deferring the work “to a later date will create more traffic impacts and delay other construction projects that are planned in 2022.”
In a statement, the city said it will work with local BIA’s to encourage shopping during construction.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Work stoppage possible as WestJet issues lockout notice to maintenance engineers' union
A lockout notice issued by WestJet to a union representing aircraft maintenance engineers could result in a work stoppage next week.
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Bodies recovered in Mexico likely 2 Australians, 1 American who went missing: officials
Three bodies recovered in an area of Baja California are likely to be those of the two Australians and an American who went missing last weekend during a camping and surfing trip, the state prosecutor’s office said Saturday.
BREAKING London Drugs begins 'gradual reopening' on 7th day after cyberattack
Almost a week after all London Drugs stores across Western Canada abruptly closed amid a cyberattack, they began a "gradual reopening" on Saturday.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Auston Matthews skates ahead of Game 7, status unclear with season on the line
Auston Matthews was back on the ice with his teammates Saturday.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.