Nearby businesses inconvenienced by Granville Connector construction

If you think the Granville Bridge looks a little different lately, you’re not wrong.

Parts of the north end of the bridge have been completely demolished and some surrounding businesses are feeling the impact of the construction.

Ballet Lounge is located next to the construction site on Granville Street and the staff there tells CityNews the noise can be a nightmare.

“It was a lot of banging and drilling noises and it was very difficult to lead the class, and for the students as well,” said Anushka Kashyap, an instructor at the Ballet Lounge.

“It’s just like ‘raaaaaa’ the whole time, while I’m teaching my class. And it’s supposed to be a relaxing class, this is not relaxing at all.”

Owner Suzy Kaitman said the construction shakes their building and her clients have had challenges getting to class.

“No one can park. It’s not very accessible at this time. I think that’s the main challenge for our clients,” she said. “They can’t get here unless they live close by.”

City officials note that the Granville Bridge was originally designed for freeways that were never built. Its current form is not accessible and presents a number of challenges for people who want to walk, bike or roll across the bridge.

Paul Storer, director of transportation for the City of Vancouver, said an upgrade to the Granville Bridge has been long over due, and there’s a lot of work to be done to make the Granville Bridge connector accessible to all modes of transportation.

“The overall price tag is $50 million, it’s a really big project for us, really important for connecting people walking and cycling across the bridge,” he said.

“We always work to minimize the impacts of our stakeholders. We want to make sure that everyone can get to all the businesses. Our team has worked really closely with all of the buildings that are impacted, but as you can see, it’s a really big project, so there is a fair number of impacts.”

Linh Café is located under the Granville Bridge. Manager Andy Le says lane closures from the construction site have hurt his business, especially during their lunch rush.

“Sometimes there is a traffic jam, so they try and find somewhere else easier and faster for their limited time during their break.”

He says he’s worried about the potential noise when there is construction on the part of the bridge that’s directly above the café.

The Granville Connector Project is slated to be complete by the end of this year. Until then, residents and surrounding businesses will have to put up with the construction noise and possible traffic until the connector is complete.

“I’m not sure when it’s going to end, but hopefully sooner than later,” Kaitman said.