Another stretch of Broadway is about to be shuttered to traffic for months, leaving businesses, residents and commuters bracing for disruptions and worsening congestion. A two-block stretch of Broadway, between Cambie and Alberta streets, will close for six months in July shortly after the World Cup to allow crews to dismantle the traffic deck, install permanent utilities and rebuild the roadway.
Longer Closure Than Previous Shutdown
The closing — longer than the recent four-month shutdown between Main and Quebec streets — is part of the nearly $3-billion Broadway Subway project, a 5.7-kilometre extension of the Millennium Line to Arbutus Street. The province says the closure will cut restoration work at Broadway-City Hall SkyTrain Station from 14 months to six months, mirroring a one-block detour used near Main Street that officials say reduced roadwork time by more than half.
Business Concerns and Traffic Diversions
Rania Hatz, executive director of the Cambie Village Business Association, which represents about 400 businesses in the area, said the impact will be severe. “The impact is going to be bad. There’s just no way around it,” she said. Hatz expects ripple effects beyond Broadway, affecting surrounding streets. “You divert traffic, you affect everything,” she added. “West 8th is already a nightmare if you’ve ever tried to cross it. There’s going to be a lot of confusion about who can turn and who can’t.”
Businesses are also worried about reduced foot traffic, blocked storefront access and backups at underground parkades. The Parkade at the Crossroads building, which houses Whole Foods, RBC, London Drugs and other tenants, only has one entrance on West 8th, which is already busy. The area is home to several big-box retailers, including Home Depot, Canadian Tire, HomeSense and Best Buy, which Hatz believes may be better positioned to weather the disruption with their deeper pockets and national marketing campaigns. “But the small, independent restaurants and retailers will be struggling,” she said. “And there’s no mechanism in place for compensation, which is absolutely ridiculous.”
Detour Routes and Access
Vehicles will be detoured through Alberta Street, West 8th Avenue and Ash Street back to Broadway, with the detour open to vehicles in both directions, while buses will be detoured on West 8th between Cambie and Alberta. The closure is significantly longer at the Cambie Street station because more work is needed: The traffic deck outside Broadway-City Hall station has 20 girders and 133 deck panels that need to be dismantled, compared with 10 girders and 44 panels at the future Mount Pleasant station. Access to businesses will remain open throughout the work. Project staff have begun reaching out to businesses to share details and ask for their feedback, the ministry said.
