[URBAN NOTE] "LRT construction leaves Eglinton businesses worried about future"
Alicja Siekierska at the Toronto Star looks at the concerns of businesses on Eglinton Avenue about disruption to their affairs by construction of a light rail route. This sounds a lot like what we heard about St. Clair during streetcar construction there.
Vendors along Eglinton Ave. say their businesses are paying the price for construction of the Crosstown LRT.
“The whole area is devastated and desecrated,” said Viive Tork, the owner of VII Designs and Gifts on Eglinton Ave. near Chaplin Cres., where one of the stations will be located.
“We’ve been forced into a very precarious situation.”
Maureen Sirois, chair of the Eglinton Way Business Improvement Area, said the area is grappling with many issues - a lack of parking, drastically reduced foot traffic, various obstructions - since the construction of the stations began. The entire project will be complete in 2021.
“Every single business understands that we must build a subway, but it shouldn’t be done on the backs of small businesses,” Sirois said.
Vendors along Eglinton Ave. say their businesses are paying the price for construction of the Crosstown LRT.
“The whole area is devastated and desecrated,” said Viive Tork, the owner of VII Designs and Gifts on Eglinton Ave. near Chaplin Cres., where one of the stations will be located.
“We’ve been forced into a very precarious situation.”
Maureen Sirois, chair of the Eglinton Way Business Improvement Area, said the area is grappling with many issues - a lack of parking, drastically reduced foot traffic, various obstructions - since the construction of the stations began. The entire project will be complete in 2021.
“Every single business understands that we must build a subway, but it shouldn’t be done on the backs of small businesses,” Sirois said.