Businesses lose parking to buses

Merchants of Grosvenor Square are irate the city is relocating a bus stop along Grosvenor Avenue and removing several parking spaces they say are vital for business.

“People tell me all the time, ‘I’ll come in if I can find parking,’ and this is going to seriously affect me,” said Chris Atkinson, owner of Lilac Bakery at 930 Grosvenor Ave.

As part of Winnipeg Transit’s massive overhaul, all four current stops at the intersection of Grosvenor Avenue and Stafford Street will be removed and replaced with three new stops, including one in front of the bakery and several other shops.

Atkinson estimates the new bus stop is taking away five parking stalls.

City crews installed “no stopping” signage on the strip last week.

“There was no consultation, no one had any idea this was even happening,” Atkinson said.

Other businesses in Grosvenor Square include restaurants, a furniture store, boutique, dry-cleaning, a yoga studio and hair salon.

Atkinson says much of his customer base park momentarily to pick up orders or a quick treat and he already competes for parking with the other businesses.

The bakery has a few parking stalls in the back lane behind his shop but they are usually reserved for staff, he said.

“We pay taxes and employ people. I’m all for active transportation but, unfortunately, we’re still a car-centric city and these spots are valuable,” Atkinson said.

The bakery has seen increased walk-in traffic in recent years owing to a concentration of businesses moving into the area, but many still drive across town for a taste of Lilac’s coveted red velvet cake and other confections.

A city spokesperson said parking would be reinstated where possible. Megan Benedictson said while some spaces would be removed in front of Lilac Bakery, an existing bus stop on northbound Stafford would be removed and parking added there.

The new parking spaces will be a 20-metre walk from the front door of the bakery.

Across the street at Metro Cleaners, owner Gus Lefas said the relocation of the bus stop means drivers will use his parking lot instead.

Lefas has been at 917 Grosvenor Ave., since 1961 and has always had ample parking, but with the host of businesses now in the area, times have changed.

He fears the new stop location will completely dry up Lilac’s business.

“They can’t just move the stop 50 feet behind the houses? Won’t bother nobody, I don’t know why they’re doing this,” Lefas said.

The city considered availability of space, transfer walking distance, pedestrian infrastructure, existing stop infrastructure, safety, adjacent land-use and parking impacts in choosing where bus stops will go, Benedictson said.

Atkinson wrote a letter to the mayor and area councillors Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) and John Orlikow (River Heights-Fort Garry) signed by six nearby businesses.

“Unlike suburban areas where parking is ample, the Grosvenor Square merchants do not have that luxury and have relied on and built businesses with this parking in mind; we need it to survive. Most of us have no parking at all, outside street parking. The daily turnover of these mentioned parking spots generate substantial revenue for the neighbourhood businesses,” a portion of the letter states.

Orlikow said while the stop isn’t in his constituency, he’s looking into the issue with Transit and exploring possible alternatives.

He recognizes the imposition on business in the area.

“This transit overhaul has been a massive project and you can’t consult absolutely everybody … but we’re making sure that transit understands the impact it’s going to have on those businesses and seeing if there’s any other viable options,” Orlikow said.

The city’s new transit network is expected to go online June 29. On May 1, Transit posted the upcoming schedules online so residents can become familiar with the new routes.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca