Broadway businesses 'cautiously optimistic' after meeting with Minister over full road closure for subway construction

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These major disruptions are occurring due to the need to accommodate the safe and efficient work to remove the temporary traffic bridge deck that spans the city block — completed in April 2022, directly above the construction site of Mount Pleasant Station. At least one lane of vehicle traffic in each direction will be restored at the end of the four-month closure period, as part of the overall process to finish the subway project and fully restore the roadway.

The meeting today provided an opportunity for businesses to raise their concerns directly and to renew calls for urgent financial relief.

The MPBIA said it is “cautiously optimistic” following the meeting, noting that the Minister acknowledged there is currently no dedicated funding program or category in place to compensate businesses for the significant financial losses they expect to face.

Concrete barriers installed along Quebec Street between Broadway and East 8th Avenue to define and guide the temporary roadway for the detour on East 8th Ave.

This diagonal roadway is built on the parking lot of a private property. #vanpoli #vanre 2/4https://t.co/7i01q4EJtc pic.twitter.com/IcjnL3ZB4K

— Kenneth Chan (@iamkennethchan) January 26, 2026

According to the organization representing the area’s businesses, Farnworth intends to raise the concerns with the provincial cabinet to explore potential strategies.

This meeting follows criticism from the MPBIA over the absence of provincial government support and the lack of any provincial representation at a town hall the association organized last month to discuss the upcoming impacts of the construction on local businesses.

“We are putting our trust in Minister Farnworth to honour his commitment to engage his cabinet colleagues and explore options,” said Neil Wyles, the executive director of MPBIA, in a statement today.

“Business owners are experiencing this disruption in real time, right now, and the conversations at government need to happen with the same sense of urgency.”

An eastbound 99 B-Line bus turning from Quebec Street onto East 8th Avenue for the East Broadway detour route via Main Street. #TransLink #vanpoli #vanre 4/4https://t.co/7i01q4EJtc pic.twitter.com/7j8jqY8UCn

— Kenneth Chan (@iamkennethchan) January 26, 2026

Eastbound buses queuing on East 8th Avenue for the East Broadway detour via Main Street.

Crews are finishing a temporary traffic signal at this intersection. #TransLink #vanre #vanpoli 3/4https://t.co/7i01q4EJtc pic.twitter.com/nF4GCFmRiP

— Kenneth Chan (@iamkennethchan) January 26, 2026

It is asserted that the provincial government is particularly concerned about setting a long-term precedent for future projects if it were to provide these businesses with compensation.

In the past, including during the controversy in the 2000s over the Canada Line’s disruptive cut-and-cover tunnel construction along Cambie Street, concerns were raised that establishing a compensation strategy for businesses affected by public works projects could set a precedent — not only for future SkyTrain extensions, but for any major infrastructure project, including those undertaken by municipal governments and utility providers (BC Hydro, FortisBC, Telus, etc.), that disrupt local road access for businesses.

The decision to construct the Broadway extension using tunnel boring, along with limited cut-and-cover work for subway stations supported by temporary traffic deck bridges, was intended to reduce the types of disruptions experienced during construction of the Canada Line.

MPBIA argues that the provincial government found over $100 million to cover the Broadway extension’s construction cost overruns — rising from $2.827 billion when major construction first began in 2021 to $2.954 billion by late 2024.

The organization also suggests the provincial government could consider other strategies to provide businesses with financial support in a manner that does not set a long-term compensation precedent, such as bridge financing or interest-free loans during the months-long road closure. Businesses would repay after construction is complete and their operations have fully stabilized.

“This has never been about stopping construction, and it’s not about rewriting policy. It’s about finding practical, time-limited ways to keep viable small businesses alive through an extraordinary period. Any relief program would amount to a line item — a rounding error — within a multi-billion-dollar infrastructure project,” continued Wyles.

“We understand government’s concern about precedent. But allowing dozens of small businesses to fail under the weight of this project would set a precedent of its own — one that undermines confidence in future infrastructure delivery.”

The four-month full road closure represents the most severe construction disruption to date, with businesses warning that the upcoming impacts compound years of previous disruptions. The MPBIA has warned that this could be the final straw for many local businesses.

The provincial government has yet to indicate how the remaining four spans of temporary East Broadway vehicle traffic decks — above the subway station construction sites of Broadway-City Hall (between Cambie and Alberta streets), VGH-Oak (between Oak and Laurel streets), South Granville (between Granville and Hemlock streets), and Arbutus (between Arbutus and Cypress streets) — will be removed. So far, it has not ruled out a similar prolonged full road closure for these remaining locations.

The Millennium Line’s Broadway extension reaching Arbutus is scheduled to reach completion and open in Fall 2027.

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