Latest Eglinton Crosstown delay 'more trouble on trouble' for Little Jamaica, restaurant owner says
CBC
The latest announcement that the Eglinton Crosstown LRT will be delayed by about a year means "more trouble on trouble" for businesses in the Little Jamaica area, one restaurant owner said.
Sheryl Bryan Phillips, who owns Judy's Island Grill — a small restaurant serving authentic Caribbean cuisine at 1720 Eglinton Ave. W. — said she learned about the latest delay from a construction worker who came to her shop for lunch.
"Next year? Are you kidding me?" was her reaction on hearing the bad news.
"We're struggling enough already with this LRT … and I just can imagine what's gonna happen to us small business on Eglinton," Bryan Phillips told CBC Radio's Metro Morning.
The 19-kilometre light rapid transit line scheduled to be up and running by the end of this year. A source with knowledge of the situation told CBC Toronto the soonest the line could open now is this time next year.
In a statement on Metrolinx's website on Friday, president and CEO Phil Verster said the Eglinton Crosstown is delayed and will not be in operation this fall as expected. He did not provide a new date for the launch of the service.
"Unfortunately, while progress has been made, Crosslinx Transit Solutions have fallen behind schedule, are unable to finalize construction and testing, and therefore the system will not be operational on this timeline," Verster said in the statement.
The major issues causing the delay are primarily related to construction of underground stations, the source said, particularly at the Yonge Street and Eglinton Avenue stop.
Bryan Phillips' restaurant, in operation for more than seven years, bills itself as "Bringing the Taste of the Island to you." On its walls, there are photos of Bob Marley and retired Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt. But spots like hers are struggling, she said, and after already strugling through two years of the COVID-19 pandemic are now facing another devastating blow.
"We're [hanging] by a thread already with the pandemic. [We're] barely [hanging] on. When is this going to be over with and let people get back to their normal life?" she asked.
"We want to make plans but how can we plan in this kind of uncertainty? We're not sure, we don't know what's going to happen."
Bryan Phillips said Metrolinx should commit to a firm timeline as step one.
For now Bryan Phillips is "praying to God and hoping" that the restaurant makes it through one more year.
"We want to hold on for the community, but it's [a struggle,] she said.
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