Eglington LRT construction has forced 140 business closures, city councillors say

Ctvnews.ca
March 4, 2020
Beth Macdonell

Toronto city councillors, business owners and residents took to Eglinton Avenue West Tuesday to support businesses struggling since the onset of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) construction.

The event dubbed "Shop Eglinton Day" comes after business owners in the area say that the construction has been keeping many customers away.

Councillors Mike Colle and Josh Matlow agree and said that since construction began they counted 140 businesses that closed from Black Creek Drive to Yonge Street, and estimate that between 500 and 800 people have lost their jobs.

Last month, the company behind the project announced that the Eglinton Crosstown won't be operational until "well into 2022".

“We’re all really anxious to have this all over. Just to get back to some sort of normalcy in the neighbourhood,” Anthony Matiya, who is a close relative of a restaurant owner on Eglinton Avenue, told CTV News Toronto.

“I’m delighted to see the construction infrastructure, but I am concerned at the disappearance of the stores,” resident Judi Cohen said.

Colle and Matlow want the provincial government to offer businesses compensation and see if a portion of the line could open early.

“So that these businesses can get up and running so that the streets can come alive again,” said Matlow.

Colle said he presented a motion in February to help the struggling businesses. The next step will be for the mayor to have a meeting with the provincial government.

One hope for the councillors is to hear directly from owners in the area to find out what can be done to keep the businesses alive.

Sherlock Shepherd has been working on Eglinton for 20 years. He likes the idea of compensation, but says until congestion eases up, business won’t improve.

Every time they come to my place they remember ‘oh traffic, oh traffic,’” Shepherd said.

“After that, they don’t come back this way,” he added.

Government responds to 'Shop Eglinton Day'

CTV News Toronto reached out to the Ontario Minister of Transportation, Caroline Mulroney about the idea of compensation.

“We feel for the community and the businesses along Eglinton and we are frustrated with the prolonged construction impacts,” her office said in a statement.

Mulroney’s office didn’t specifically address compensation, but said they’ve asked Metrolinx to continue providing existing support to local businesses. Mulroney’s office added that Metrolinx continues to work with business improvement areas as well as accelerating the completion of the project.

In a phone call, Metrolinx said this support includes helping businesses with advertising and marketing but doesn’t have a current compensation program for lost revenue.

CTV News Toronto also reached out to Metrolinx about the possibility of an LRT section opening early. The crown corporation said it is looking at if opening a section of the line early is a possibility.