With Broadway subway still 2 years away, businesses say they're getting ‘zero' support
As the British Columbia government touts progress on the Broadway subway extension, some Vancouver businesses in the construction zone question if they can hang on for two more years.
The $2.95 billion subway line was originally supposed to be finished in 2025, but is now aiming for a fall 2027 launch.
During a tour on Monday, Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth downplayed concerns from businesses on Broadway who say fencing, no-stopping zones and the removal of parking in the area have driven away customers.
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'There has been a very good relationship between the project and businesses along the line, and we're in contact with them literally on a daily basis,' Farnworth said.
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'There has been a lot of liaising between the project team and the local businesses to ensure the impact is as minimal as possible.'
Not everyone operating businesses on Broadway agrees.
Matthew Greenwood, who owns the Up in Smoke cannabis store at Broadway and Alberta Street, says sales have fallen 40 per cent and he's had to slash his staff from 12 to three people since construction work started.
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He said the loss of parking and the installation of large fences on the street in 2021 and 2022 were to blame.
'That's when people decided it was too difficult to find parking in this neighbourhood and so they decided to go elsewhere. And also foot traffic is down hugely,' he said.
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Greenwood said he's had to shift his business model — sourcing unique and specialized products and moving to a mail-order business model to keep the doors open.
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Support from the city and the province has been minimal, he added.
'They could have said you don't have to pay property taxes because it's a special construction zone and we don't have jurisdiction. They could have waived my business licence fee and that of other merchants. They could have given us a grant to launch our e-commerce service because we lost foot traffic. There are so many things they could have done.
'At this point, any effort would have been welcome, but at this time right now there has been zero effort on the hands of the provincial and municipal government other than prayers and thoughts.'
Ned Wyles, executive director of the Mount Pleasant Business Improvement Association, said Greenwood is not alone.
'There's 100s of businesses along this line, everyone is different. They've all pivoted, done something different — opened an online store — but at the end of the day, they are all struggling, they are having to pull every trick out of their bag of tricks just to keep the doors open, through no fault of their own,' he said.
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Wyles said the only kind of support businesses have been offered has been small things like free window cleaning. But he said the Ministry of Transportation won't budge on a policy of not offering financial compensation for the effects of construction.
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He said it's particularly frustrating given that Finance Minister Brenda Bailey is the MLA for a portion of the transit line.
'Brenda Bailey, we need some help here,' he said.
'How about giving these guys a tax break? We did it during COVID, the government knows how to do it, I'm not asking you to give them money, I am asking you not to take it away from them.'
The province has blamed project delays on a variety of factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, a five-week concrete strike and unexpected challenges with tunnel boring, but maintains it will hit the current 2027 launch target.
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