A stretch of Vancouver’s East Broadway reopened to one lane of traffic in each direction Wednesday at the Main Street intersection, a week ahead of schedule, after a closure since late January due to the Broadway Subway project.
The major arterial had been closed between Main and Quebec streets for months, as crews removed the traffic deck ahead of the opening of the future Mount Pleasant station.
The province said work on that particular stretch progressed ahead of schedule, which also means that all four lanes of Broadway would reopen by July instead of September.
A business owner in the area says they’ve suffered from a severe downturn in foot traffic due to the subway construction project — and the sidewalk in front remains closed as work progresses.
“Ideally, we would be having people walk by and see the brand. And up until now, like the last four months, have been really hard — because no one can even drive by and see that we’re here,” said Lexi Soukoreff, the founder of the clothing brand Daub.
Soukoreff’s store has been at the intersection of Broadway and Quebec Street for over a decade.
(Murray Titus/CBC)
The business owner said that the road closure caused a revenue downturn that was higher than what she had forecast, and the brand was relying on online shopping and wholesale to get by.
“Online does cost quite a bit of bit to run because of, like, paid ads and, like, attracting new clientele,” Soukoreff said.
“Whereas, like, we’re paying for the space anyway. So we’d like to be able to like have more walk by and even [host] events, right?”
The Daub founder said she was told the stretch would be fully open by the end of summer, but she was skeptical given the Broadway Subway project has missed previous deadlines.
“I guess that does worry me because especially in the summer — Vancouver’s busy, it’s super vibrant. So having people walk up and down the street is really important,” she said.
Another closure at Cambie Street
One resident who lives near Broadway and Main Street said, as someone who drives to work every day, the closure was really tough.
“The traffic, like, in this little intersection has been awful. So having this open up, I’m hoping we’ll alleviate that a little bit,” Victoria Ranea said.
Ranea pointed out, however, that another stretch of Broadway will be closed at the end of summer, and drivers aren’t out of the woods yet.
(Murray Titus/CBC)
That closure between Alberta and Cambie streets is set to last six months, according to the province, covering the area around the existing Broadway-City Hall station on the Canada Line.
The province said there will be two weeks’ notice given before the closure begins, and it’s expected to start after the conclusion of FIFA World Cup games in July.
It is expected to be the last full closure of Broadway needed to complete the project, according to the province.
The nearly $3-billion SkyTrain extension is expected to open in fall 2027, with the existing Millennium Line stretching a further 5.7 kilometres from VCC-Clark station to Arbutus Street.
The City of Vancouver previously said the Broadway corridor is B.C.’s second-largest jobs centre, an emerging innovation and research hub and home to fast-growing residential communities.
Construction started on the subway extension in 2020, when the B.C. government estimated it would open after five years.
In 2022, the government said the project opening had been delayed until 2026 by a five-week concrete workers’ strike.