Local businesses hit hard by Skytrain expasion

Foot traffic has slowed to such a crawl on a 14 block section of Cambie Street, and popular businesses are devoid of customers or closing altogether.

A new section of Skytrain is being constructed to connect the city center to the international airport at Richmond to efficiently move people during the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, and it has meant heavy construction in the streets. Originally, tunnels were to be bored underground so as to allow business to continue as normal, but plans changed and now small business owners are finding themselves out of customers and out of luck. Six lanes of traffic have been cut down to two, causing traffic nightmares.

InTransitBC spokesman Steve Crombie noted that new businesses have opened where old ones have closed in the popular district:

"Going through 19 kilometres of busy urban area, there's no way you can do a project like this without causing disruption. Considering the complexity and size of the project, it's gone extremely well so far."

Source: Globe and Mail