Businesses in an area of downtown Victoria say they’re frustrated with a sidewalk repair project that’s dragged on for more than two years.
For three summers, the sidewalk along Broad Street between View and Yates streets has been behind barricades.
The barriers are meant to divert foot traffic as the City of Victoria works to repair historic glass-prism sidewalks.
But businesses in the are say little work has been done since the barriers went up.
“The next day they said we changed our mind, we are not going to repair the sidewalks … now, two and a half years later, we’re still here,” said Jim Cassels, owner of clothing store Simply the Best.
“We are paying for street-front window shopping, and you can’t get near my windows.”
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Cassels said the stores on either side of his have moved out since the work got underway.
He said he’s been unable to get any clarity from the city about when the work will finally be completed.
Evleen Zeidan, manager of nearby Macchiato Cafe, said the uncertainty about the work was difficult to deal with.
“Getting some timeframes that would be measurable, so we can anticipate the length it will continue because it has definitely impacted us,” she said.
“It’s really about the summer passing by and we just didn’t have the opportunity to meet as many people visiting Victoria as we would have liked, and being the third summer it’s just been really ongoing.”
The building’s landlord did not respond to a request for comment.
In a statement, the City of Victoria said the under-sidewalk basement has sparked safety concerns, and that decommissioning it “involves complex assessment, design and planning work which is a lengthy process.”
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