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“This is the biggest change because they’ve put us in the cage,” he said of the fence, which cuts him off from the life of the street, such as it is.

He used to sell 70 to 100 paninis a day. Now he might grill 25 or 30. He says he’s dipped into his savings and burned through his credit card, just to stay afloat, while working 60-hour weeks and feeding four children.

You can’t help but feel for the man. It is one thing for the big institutional players on the street (hotels, government, franchises) to cope with construction, but what recourse does a small, independent business have?

“Nobody takes care of the small business,” he said, though he tries remain optimistic. “We’re looking for the future.”

(If the city, by the way, wanted to help him, they should cater their next 10 meetings with his food, which looks delicious. He doesn’t need another reassuring flyer about the wonders of LRT, to be opened in 2018. He needs help now.)

It would fill half the newspaper to fully explain what the city is doing with Queen, but briefly, it is this: there are two LRT stations being dug along Queen and a “transit showcase” rebuild in the works for the entire length, from Bronson to Elgin.

It has to be done in phases. The hope is that the bulk of the non-LRT work will be finished in time for the 2017 tourist season.

Merchants, meanwhile, are left looking out their windows at dumpsters and dumptrucks and pylons and barricades, at yellow-vested men seemingly digging and refilling the same holes, over and over.

Several echoed what Groulx said, when asked if they could hang on. “I don’t know. The way it’s going now, I don’t think so.”

And that’s one mean road to travel, Your Majesty.

Photo by Wayne Cuddington

To contact Kelly Egan, please call 613-726-5896 or email kegan@postmedia.com

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