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Winnipeg Free Press

Graham Avenue transit shift leaves businesses wary of seasonal foot traffic

Outside, there wasn't a Winnipeg Transit bus in sight. Inside, Tefere Kahsay flipped through his agenda. He stood behind his till; a couple of construction workers rifled through nearby fridges for drinks, but there was no lineup — he had a minute. 'April … 279,' Kahsay read aloud. He'd counted 279 people at Graham Convenience Store on April 24. Another page — June 20: 320 customers. But lately, Kahsay has been counting maybe 60 patrons daily. He and neighbouring businesses reliant on bus-takers have watched sales plummet immediately following a Graham Avenue transitway overhaul. Part of the downtown stretch became reserved for Transit in 1995. Ground-floor businesses line the street, which is bookended by the former Hudson's Bay flagship store on one side. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Tefere Kahsay, owner of Graham Convenience Store, says that there has seen a steep decline in customer traffic since buses were pulled from Graham Avenue. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Tefere Kahsay, owner of Graham Convenience Store, says that there has seen a steep decline in customer traffic since buses were pulled from Graham Avenue. During the COVID-19 pandemic — and as office workers and students stayed home — business closures began pockmarking the strip. Since then, the City of Winnipeg has turned its gaze to downtown revitalization and a Transit overhaul. A result: Graham Avenue is in the midst of becoming a corridor for cyclists and pedestrians. Pulling buses off the street coincided with Transit's overhaul June 29. The bus removal has been 'dramatic,' said Dade Williams, an employee at Aluminum Sound. Next door, a pizza joint owner questioned her company's survival. The eatery's main clientele were bus riders. Williams estimates Aluminum Sound sales have halved during the first weekdays of the new bus system. Several other businesses reported less traffic than usual. 'I'm hoping it gets better … I can't pay myself.'–Tefere Kahsay 'It's hard to tell, exactly, because the first week of July is always quiet,' said Elizabeth Gillich, a Bison Books employee. 'We're … still waiting to see the full effects of what's changed.' Much of Graham Avenue was barricaded Thursday. Artists painted bright designs on the pavement running from Manitoba Hydro Place at Edmonton Street, past the Winnipeg Police Service headquarters to Garry Street. Picnic and table tennis spots dotted the path. The stretch housing many of Graham's small, ground-floor businesses was untouched. While the sidewalks remain open, the street itself is scheduled for public unveiling next week. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES Winnipeg mayor Scott Gillingham. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES Winnipeg mayor Scott Gillingham. 'It's just really the beginning,' said Mayor Scott Gillingham. 'It's about reimagining the space and activating the street.' City officials and the Downtown Winnipeg Business Improvement Zone have touted Graham Avenue as a new event and gathering destination. The four-block corridor is a pilot project without a set end date. Gillingham estimated it will take a couple years to grow activity on the strip. '(We're) inviting people to come and explore Graham … and frequent the businesses,' he said when asked if those businesses would receive interim support. Kahsay isn't sure he can last two years. Construction workers have become his main clientele — they're renovating the former Bay for the Southern Chiefs' Organization's Wehwehneh Bahgahkinahgohn, a project slated to include new housing. 'I'm hoping it gets better,' Kahsay said. 'I can't pay myself.' He doubled his convenience store space last year, taking over a former beauty parlour, because daytime rushes were cramped. 'It's about reimagining the space and activating the street.'–Mayor Scott Gillingham Business valuations and seasonal traffic were among the concerns entrepreneurs shared with the Free Press. Not all had seen a noticeable difference: leadership at Blazing Chicken Shack and Thom Bargen Coffee Roasters reported normal sales, though the latter business believes autumn — and the return of university students — will be a true tell. Pre-pandemic, roughly 1,800 Transit buses might travel down Graham. Moving buses off Graham Avenue 'makes sense' to Aaron Moore, a University of Winnipeg political science professor who studies urban development. The vehicles had nowhere to pass each other and would bunch up, Moore recalled. Also, Graham isn't a main thoroughfare like Portage Avenue. 'Compared to what I've seen (of) other cities in Canada, this is one of the better-planned transit systems,' Moore said. 'I think while it'll take a while for people to get used to it, it'll be much better.' However, there's always consequences to such changes, including negative impacts to businesses, Moore relayed. He would've opened the strip up to cars in the short-term — there's 'not a lot of pedestrian traffic' in the city's core. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Graham Convenience Store at 438 Graham Ave. has seen a steep decline in customer traffic since buses were pulled from Graham Avenue. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Graham Convenience Store at 438 Graham Ave. has seen a steep decline in customer traffic since buses were pulled from Graham Avenue. New initiatives — and housing — in the former Bay and Portage Place mall should bring more pedestrians, said Marc Vachon, a University of Winnipeg geography professor who studies urban development. The Graham project may be better suited after the opening of Wehwehneh Bahgahkinahgohn and Portage Place's renovation, Vachon continued. He called it a 'great pilot,' except for the timing. 'At the end of the day, we're aiming for a sustainable city,' Vachon said. 'The heavy traffic and cars that we have is not sustainable.' City council tabbed $250,000 for the street's redevelopment. A US$100,000 grant from the Bloomberg Philanthropies Asphalt Art Initiative is funding the street surface murals. The pilot allows for testing ideas and learning, said Rhiannon Hayes, chief operating officer of Downtown Winnipeg BIZ. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. 'It's still early, and we'll be listening closely to our businesses throughout the summer and fall to see what's working and what needs improvement,' Hayes wrote in a statement. The BIZ is 'optimistic' Graham's change will help bring more people downtown, Hayes continued. Street closure signs are set to come down Monday, city spokeswoman Julie Dooley wrote in an email. There aren't current plans to route buses back to Graham. Future route changes result from the city's annual service planning process, Dooley said. The strip of Graham Avenue from Main to Garry streets continues to see buses. Gabrielle PichéReporter Gabrielle Piché reports on business for the Free Press. She interned at the Free Press and worked for its sister outlet, Canstar Community News, before entering the business beat in 2021. Read more about Gabrielle. Every piece of reporting Gabrielle produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.