Monque Drepaul on Toronto LRT Construction--CBC Metro Morning

How Toronto main street is coping with LRT construction
Helping businesses affected by Eglinton Crosstown project site
Nov 07, 2014 7:58 AM ET
CBC News

It's important to preserve some sense of normalcy for retailers amid the upheaval caused by construction of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, a neighbourhood business leader says.

Monique M. Drepaul

Monique Drepaul, head of the Eglinton Way Business Improvement Association, has been helping business owners cope, and she took part in a roundtable discussion hosted by the city Thursday to talk about the health of Toronto's main streets.

Construction of the Metrolinx light rail transit project began in earnest in June 2013. Expected to be in service by 2020, the entire Crosstown LRT line will span 19 kilometres along Eglinton Avenue with a little more than 10 kilometres underground. The line, which will include up to 25 stations, will link to 54 local bus routes, three TTC interchange subway stations and GO Transit.

Twenty businesses in Drepaul's neigbhbourhood have closed since the start of construction.

Monique Drepaul at Panel Discussion on this topic

"They just couldn't survive," she told CBC Radio's Metro Morning on Friday.

Some businesses left ahead of the construction, not knowing whether they would be able to pay the rent. In addition, foot traffic is down because, as Drepaul explains, "People don't like to see all these empty stores when they go by. They just feel that it brings the neighbourhood down."

Preliminary roadwork for the LRT was set to begin at Chaplain Crescent last December, but there have been a number of delays, which have kept local businesses guessing.

"Right now there's a lot of construction going on. We have two potential stations. One [site] is at Chaplain and one is at Avenue Road, and that is part of the problem. We're getting a double dose of the construction and this is only phase one of the project," she said.

"They're literally just setting up the headwalls for the station. They're not at the point where they're building the platforms yet."

The key to helping businesses cope, she says, is the sharing of information about the various stages of construction.

"I do know the city is issuing permits pretty much on a daily basis," not only to Metrolinx, but also utilities like Bell and Enbridge, Drepaul says.

She sat down Thursday with a city employee to explain that.

Drepaul says it would be helpful if local businesses knew, even on short-notice, when a store entrance will be blocked, instead of having merchants show up first thing in the morning "and discovering there's a giant truck in front of them."

She says her association has decided to make the best of a difficult situation, with a tongue-in-cheek set of ads called Style Under Construction and a website with the same name where business owners can see LRT updates.

Monique Drepaul presenting ideas on the issues facing Toronto as it revamps its city transport.

Monique Drepaul has been active in presenting ideas on behalf of her BIA on the issues facing Toronto as it revamps its city transport.  On Tuesday October 7^th she spoke as a panel expert (giving the BIA's perspective) for TCAT's Complete Streets Forum yesterday.

 Monique is executive coordinator of the Eglinton Way Business Development Association. This association has been very active in presenting ideas to Metrolinkx as it redesigns Toronto’s transportation look. The Eglinton Way BIA is projecting an innovative look for its area under the theme Style Lives Here.

Eglinton Connects is about planning for the future Eglinton Avenue, and how to best leverage investment in rapid transit for the benefit of Toronto and its communities.

 Metrolinx is investing approximately $5 billion in the design and construction of the Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail Transit (LRT) line. This new transit infrastructure is expected to be complete by 2020 and will run between Weston Road in the west, and Kennedy subway station in the east.

The construction of the Crosstown will significantly improve mobility and transportation options for Torontonians, while also bringing a number of planning opportunities and challenges.

The City of Toronto is undertaking Eglinton Connects, a comprehensive planning study along the length of the Eglinton Avenue corridor, to prepare for these challenges, and to realize the opportunities for the communities along the line. 

Much of the groundwork is already complete. This was achieved through other processes and efforts, including public consultation. For example, much of Eglinton is an ‘Avenue’ in Toronto’s Official Plan, which means it is identified as an area where further intensification is encouraged. 

Additionally, an Environmental Assessment was completed for the LRT, which contains approved transit designs, and portions of the Eglinton transit corridor streetscape (where the LRT will run in the centre of the street). We also know that the Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail Line will run underground between Black Creek in the west and Laird in the east. All of these previously made decisions, and many others, guided the development of this Study.