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
Signs of Alzheimer’s were everywhere. Then his brain improved
Blood biomarkers of telltale signs of early Alzheimer’s disease in the brain of his patient, 55-year-old entrepreneur Simon Nicholls, had all but disappeared in a mere 14 months.
Flammable kids' sleepwear, salmonella-contaminated chips: Here are the recalls of this week
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued recalls for various items this week, including kids' bassinets, chips, and stoves. Here's what to watch out for.
Lyon-bound Air Canada Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner from Montreal turns back midflight due to pressurization alert
Passengers heading from Montreal to Lyon, France on Friday were forced to return home and depart the next day after a pressurization indication was detected in flight.
Sentencing trial set to begin for Florida man who executed 5 women at a bank in 2019
Zephen Xaver walked into a central Florida bank in 2019, fatally shot five women and then called police to tell them what he did. Now 12 jurors will decide whether the 27-year-old former prison guard trainee is sentenced to death or life without parole.
'How do you get hypothermia in a prison?' Records show hospitalizations among Virginia inmates
The Virginia State Police investigator seemed puzzled about what the inmate was describing: "unbearable" conditions at a prison so cold that toilet water would freeze over and inmates were repeatedly treated for hypothermia.
The secret Italian lakes that most tourists don't know about
Italy has dozens of secret smaller lakes that boast superb scenery, unknown to mass tourism, where locals get together on day trips and enjoy picnics.
Oilers dominate Canucks, win to force deciding Game 7
The Edmonton Oilers avoided elimination from the NHL playoffs Saturday night, beating the visiting Vancouver Canucks 5-1 in Game 6 of their second-round series.
Economists to have a close eye on April inflation report as BoC rate decision nears
Forecasters expect this week's inflation report to show Canada's inflation rate fell last month, but financial markets are still unsure whether a June interest rate cut is in the cards for the Bank of Canada.
Box tree moths have infested Ontario and experts say more are coming. Here's what to do to protect your garden
An invasive moth species is on the rise in Canada and, if you've planted a certain shrub, it could stand to ruin your garden.