Business owners ‘scared’ as four-month Broadway closure begins in Vancouver

A major intersection on Broadway will be closed for four months for subway construction, and business owners are arcing for the impact of the latest blow.

With a stretch of Vancouver’s busy Broadway corridor closed into spring, local business owners are once again pleading with the B.C. government for financial aid.

The four-month closure that began Monday—to make way for construction of the long-awaited Broadway Subway project—will divert drivers in both directions between Main and Quebec streets.

While the sidewalks will remain open, Neil Wyles, executive director of the Mount Pleasant Business Improvement Association, said shop owners are still expecting the impact on customer traffic to be severe.

“They’re scared,” Wyles said Monday. “Their resources are being put on the line here, and the province keeps referring to this as an inconvenience—this is not an inconvenience.”

During the closure, crews will be dismantling temporary traffic decks set up between Main and Quebec then repaving the street above what will become the Mount Pleasant Station of the SkyTrain’s Millennium Line extension.

But it comes at a time when many owners have already depleted their savings, Wyles said, and in some cases taken on second jobs to keep their doors open.

Adding to their frustration is the fact that the 5.7-kilometre Broadway Subway project was initially slated to open in 2025, before being delayed into fall 2027.

“How much more do people have to sacrifice?” Wyles said.

Ron MacGillivray, owner of Fable Diner, said visits at his restaurant are down 45 per cent since before construction began three years ago, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

MacGillivray said he previously sold his house to keep the restaurant afloat, and now wonders whether that will even be enough to weather the ongoing impacts of the project.

“I don’t know if it’s going to be here when it’s done,” MacGillivray said. “It’s going to be devastating.”

Doug Stewart, who owns ColourStrings music school on 8^th Avenue, echoes those concerns.

“We’re in a lot of trouble,” said Stewart. “It’s impossible to operate a business. They’ve made it impossible to operate my business.”

Stewart says years of construction-related traffic changes have impacted congestion and parking, resulting in a 50 to 60 per cent loss, he claims, in business.

“It’s over a year I’ve had a second job and sometimes take an extra on top of that and that’s just to keep the music school I’ve had going for 22 years going, to not lose my house and to not lose, basically ,my livelihood,” said Stewart.

Wyles is meeting with Mike Farnworth, B.C.’s transportation and transit minister, on Tuesday, and will be bringing some business owners to share their concerns in person.

He said he’s hopeful the two sides can “make some progress on this.”

In a statement, the Ministry of Transportation and Transit acknowledged the frustration from the business community, and said it is working to minimize the impacts of the construction through measures such as wayfinding signage, noise barriers and cleaning.

As with previous infrastructure projects, however, the province “does not provide compensation for disruptions arising from construction,” the ministry said.

Fully closing the block—rather than one side of the street at a time, which would let traffic continue flowing in some capacity—will allow for this section of the SkyTrain extension to be completed “up to 50 per cent faster,” according to officials.

“The ministry remains committed to supporting local businesses and are working closely with all contractors to keep disruptions to a minimum,” the statement added.

With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Yasmin Gandham and Kevin Charach