It’s been a long decade for Marty Spring and many other business owners who run their ventures along Toronto’s Eglinton Avenue.
For years, the area has been pounded by construction and road closures as workers continue to build a light rail system that still has no opening date. Many businesses have closed and those that remain have felt the effects.
“A lot of businesses have had to close down, so they can’t do anything about those businesses, but the ones that have been suffering, they can help,” said Spring, who owns Marty’s Chez TABAC Fine Cigars & Tobacconist.
Rob Ford was Toronto’s mayor when it was announced Metrolinx would fund the construction of an Eglinton light rail system largely underground. At that point, it was slated to open in 2020.
Thirteen years later, as voters prepare to go to the polls once again, Toronto’s next mayor will almost certainly be the person to cut the ribbon and declare the TTC’s Line 5 open. Local businesses want to see their next leader do more than just open the LRT, however — they want help bringing Eglinton Avenue back to life.
“I really hope the new mayor coming in can help the BIAs, can help the businesses, actually make an impact and get it done, instead of passing the buck to Metrolinx,” Ellé Marks, a fashion designer who owns a boutique business on Eglinton, told Global News.
She said years of construction along the street meant lessons had to be learned for future transit projects, and government officials should compel their own projects to adhere to the same strict construction standards homebuilders have to adhere to.
Marks said the construction chaos that has dominated Eglinton Avenue for years could have been mitigated if the city had come up with better traffic plans and streetscapes.
“The mayor and the city, they have to hold themselves to the same standard that they hold the developer — and they don’t,” she said. “They should have had plans and traffic plans and traffic studies and streetscape plans.”
When the Eglinton Crosstown LRT was first floated to businesses along the corridor, it promised a complete revitalization of the street. A city-led plan, Eglinton Connects, outlined a network of green spaces, beautiful sidewalks and bike lanes meshing seamlessly with parking and street furniture to bring the corridor to life.
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“Those are the things that we remember signing off on and agreeing to,” Marks said.
That dream, Marks and Spring both said, has been abandoned. Instead, they feel the area has become a mess of dirty construction, a lack of parking and bike lanes added in places where the pair feel they’re making the congestion worse, not better.
But those are the issues of the past, and Toronto’s next mayor will have a fresh mandate. Some local businesses want to see them lay down the gauntlet to Metrolinx and to ensure local entrepreneurs who have survived thrive when the LRT finally opens.
Global News reached out to the top polling seven candidates to hear their competing visions for the future. Four of the seven responded in time for publication, outlining different solutions.
Former police chief Mark Saunders told Global News there was “no excuse” for the economic damage to businesses on Eglinton Avenue but that one solution would not suit everyone.
“I am open to hearing any and all suggestions from the Business Improvement Associations along Eglinton as to what would help each of them get back on their feet,” he said.
Olivia Chow, who a recent Global News polled pegged as the comfortable frontrunner in the race, said she would work with local organizations to keep rent affordable and consult with BIAs on recovery strategy.
“By listening and working with the communities impacted, and ensuring the recovery strategy is community-led, Olivia will help to accelerate the growth of community life along the new transit line,” her campaign said.
Ana Bailão, a former councillor and deputy mayor, similarly promised to listen.
The demands from businesses differ, but both Spring and Marks said compensation should be offered to businesses. They also want immediate steps to resolve both the current traffic issues and the problems they fear are still to come.
“They’ve got to do another traffic study on how to make this work, because it’s not working,” Spring said. “That’s something they have to address now; this is a current problem.”
The traffic issues could be compounded, Spring fears, by the new homes the light rail line will attract. New residential towers are already popping up along the street and, if they are not forced to include significant parking accommodations, Spring is worried residents will fill out the overused on-street parking businesses like his depend upon.
“There’s currently not enough parking for businesses and if they’re going to grant rights to put up new residential complexes — really they have to take this into consideration, that there’s got to be provision for parking in these new complexes,” he said.
Complete with strong mayor powers to push through provincial priorities, including housing, Toronto’s next leader will have significant power to shape how new development matures along Eglinton Avenue.
Both Marks and Spring said the businesses that have survived should be compensated, with Spring suggesting Toronto’s next mayor should call on Metrolinx to offer financial compensation to business along the route.
A spokesperson for the provincial government, of which Metrolinx is a crown corporation, said the province understood the pain of the disruption.
“We fully recognize how difficult the disruptions caused by the delay in construction have been for commuters, residents, communities and businesses across the Eglinton corridor,” they said.
The spokesperson said $3 million had already been allotted to help businesses and said they expect Metrolinx to continue to “work closely” with local BIAs and the City of Toronto.
“There obviously needs to be compensation,” Marks added. “I think we are the only place that a project of this magnitude never considered paying these businesses.”
Josh Matlow, the local councillor also running for mayor, said he would make compensation part of his platform if elected.
“It is clear that a plan needs to be put in place to properly support the businesses that are struggling without adequate compensation,” he told Global News.
Matlow promised that, if elected, he would convene an emergency meeting with the province and Metrolinx to discuss the impacts of the LRT and look to establish an Eglinton Avenue Small Business Survival Plan.
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