‘It’s going to be horrendous:’ Stony Plain Rd. businesses brace for LRT construction

Business owners on Valley Line West LRT They are concerned construction will drive them out of business. CTV Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson reports.

City council is still debating whether Stony Plain Road will be a one or two-way street when Valley Line West LRT opens, but businesses do agree on one thing: their survival will be difficult.

In a report to committee next week, administration favours the two-way street option, but Ward 1 Councillor Andrew Knack is not ready to give up on the one-way street idea.

The current design has train tracks in the middle, traffic lanes on each side and no parking. For Knack, the model does not align with the city’s pedestrian-friendly goals.

“If a main street is supposed to attract a large quantity of people, is this enough space to do that?”

In an open house that about 250 people attended last summer, the majority of the 160 people that gave feedback voted for two-way traffic.

‘The whole thing is just going to be a nightmare’

The main concern for businesses on Stony Plain Road is the long-term LRT construction.

“It’s going to devastate the business core,” said Greg Downie, owner of All Make Vacuum Service. “We’ll be lucky to have a 30, 40 per cent survival rate.”

Downie has reason for concerns. He said a previous revitalization project in the area already hurt his pockets.

“During that construction phase I lost over $300,000 in cash sales and over $130,000 in net profits, which I'm still struggling to get back.”

The Stony Plain Road and Area Business Association is also opposed to the LRT project.

“This whole LRT down Stony Plain Road has been like trying to move a mountain with a spoon, and eventually people just give up,” Diane Kereluk, the association’s executive director, told CTV News.

The project will go ahead despite their opposition, with construction likely to start in 2020 and complete in 2025.

With files from Jeremy Thompson