Rode the Rocket along Roncesvalles lately? Thrill-seekers, get ready: This Sunday, for the first time in two years, TTC streetcars will be running both ways along the roughly 1.5-kilometre strip. The welcome return of regular two-way traffic will offer residents and shopkeepers a temporary reprieve from the seemingly endless road and sidewalk construction that, at times, has turned the leafy west-end neighbourhood into a noisy, blockaded dustbowl.
The key word here is temporary: Construction in the disrupted neighbourhood was supposed to be finished in early December. Now it's merely on hiatus and is set to resume in early April, much to the disgruntlement of local businesses. "There's a lot of anger on the street," says John Bowker, owner of 11-year-old used books and records store She Said Boom. Like his fellow shop owners, he has seen his sales dip 30 per cent during construction.
"We thought it was a good idea to give the street a break from the work," says John Kelly, a construction and design manager with the city of Toronto's Technical Services Division, overseer of the major reconstruction project that began 18 months ago, when the street was torn up for a $14-million sewer and water-main replacement. Now the street is undergoing a $9.2-million sidewalk and street-scaping overhaul. With 40 per cent of the work still to be done, and a work stoppage in place over the winter, the new end date, announced by local counsellor, Gord Perks, at a meeting a few weeks ago, is slated for late summer.
While the break is certainly welcome news to Yuletide shoppers and residents, shopkeepers remain unimpressed.
"It's been obvious for everyone for months now that the contractor wasn't even close to meeting the contract schedule," says Scott Worsley, owner of DVD and ice-cream emporium The Film Buff.
"It's very slow moving," says Mariola Pelini, who runs Benna's Fine Foods, a Polish grocery store that's been doing brisk business for 15 years. "There's nowhere to park, and the wooden planks put down in front of the store? You think an old person or someone with a stroller can walk along those? Our customers are scared."
Frustration over the delays finally boiled over when Mr. Perks made the recent announcement. "There were a lot of angry people at that meeting, justifiably angry," says Mr. Perks, adding that he, too, was being told the project would be done by Dec. 3. "That's what the contractor kept telling us."
Who's to blame? Depends who you ask. The contractor, Sanscon Construction Ltd., the same general contractor behind much of the St. Clair West streetcar project, points to the discovery in November of an Enbridge gas line that needs to be moved. The city, however, says this glitch is only a tiny portion of the problem and not the real cause of the delay.
Whoever's to blame, one thing's certain: The storeowners have the most at stake.
"There's no incentive for [the contractor]note>them to finish on time," says Leonard McAuley, owner of 85-year-old Roncy stalwart Pollock's Home Hardware and member of the Roncesvalles Village Business Improvement Area. "The city can charge them $500 a day for each day the project goes over deadline, but that's hardly a penalty. Meanwhile, there's no compensation for us."
But while lost revenue certainly irks storeowners such as Mr. Bowker, it's being lied to that really infuriates them.
"During the recent election campaign, a big hullabaloo was made about the Roncesvalles project going off the rails," says Mr. Bowker. "But the city was adamant - even up till mid-November - that the project would be done on time, on budget. Well, here we are. Now they're saying it'll be another 12 weeks. Who knows what to believe?"
Meanwhile, residents, who helped spearhead a buy-local poster campaign, are also at wits' end. "The lack of regular transit is a real problem," says Phil Liberbaum, who lives on the street with his wife. "There were long periods of time when the bus heading south would have to circumvent Roncesvalles, head east to Sorauren, down to Queen and then finally west Roncy. It was a real pain in the ass."
For some, the delay is a further test. For others, it's already too late.
"We have to close," says Jennifer Mattar, owner of Sukha Spa, which opened six years ago. "We have to sell the property to survive." After surviving the 2008 recession, Sukha's sales took a 40 per cent nosedive during the first phase of construction. "We're in the relaxation business, but getting here was like entering a war zone."
"When the city promised a break between the two phases, I thought we'd still be okay," says Ms. Mattar. But then the first phase, which was supposed to end last December but continued into June, overlapped the current work. "We never got a break and it killed me."
Sukha isn't alone. The Roncesvalles BIA estimates that 10 or 12 businesses have closed because of the construction, and many shops are reporting sales dips of more than 30 per cent. "It's going to get even worse once they begin digging up the sidewalk in front of my store," says Gary Kirk, owner of A Good Read, who cashed in RRSPs and cut back staff to cover the losses.
And yet there are also some new stores popping up, including Chocolateria, which opened in August. "I knew what I was getting into," says owner, Tim English. "I used to be a lawyer and I worked a lot in construction law, so I am well aware of deadlines not being made."
Even if he'd known of the delay, Mr. English would still have moved onto the street. "Once the work is complete, this neighbourhood is really going to take off," he says. "It'll become one of the biggest walking streets in the city."
The beautification phase, set in motion after the BIA-led community consultation in 2003, will include expanded sidewalks, bump-outs for streetcar access and patios, a bike path and trees set into planters "that can accommodate roots - so they don't die in four years," says Mr. McAuley.
"It'll feel more like a village than a street," adds Mr. Perks.
Still, some wonder if the whole thing is worth the hassle.
"The whole thing is such a mess," says Ms. Pelini. "It's not worth it. I mean, the wider sidewalks will be nicer in summer, but what happens when a streetcar gets stuck? It'll be gridlock," she says, referring to the narrower street design. And besides, she adds, "Even the new interlocking bricks put down near the bank - they're already in need of repair. The construction will never end."
Special to The Globe and Mail