Three Vancouver merchants have been awarded thousands of dollars as compensation for disruption to their businesses during construction of the Canada Line nearly a decade ago.

Leonard Schein, Dale Dubberley and Gary Gautam — who owned the Park Theatre, Thai Away Home restaurant and the Cambie General Store, respectively — were among dozens involved in a class-action lawsuit against the builders of the rapid-transit line and TransLink.

They claimed construction of the Canada Line, which lasted more than three years, cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost business by driving potential customers away.

The class-action lawsuit was launched within days of the Canada Line's first trial run in 2008. ((CBC))

On Tuesday, a B.C. Supreme Court justice awarded each business owner thousands for their losses.

"What made the construction intolerable ... was the extended time over which access was restricted," wrote Justice Christopher Grauer.

The ruling will set a precedent that will likely be used to resolve more than 100 remaining claims from Cambie Village business owners.

Years of construction

Construction of the Canada Line ran from 2005 to 2008, with months of road repair after its completion.

The construction of the tunnel underneath Cambie Street blocked traffic through the Cambie Village shopping area.

The Cambie Village Business Association filed its lawsuit two days before the rapid transit line's first test run, claiming the project builders "knowingly and deliberately" harmed local businesses because they used the cheaper "cut and cover" building method.

Leonard Schein of the Cambie Village Business Association, who represented merchants affected by the construction of the Canada Line, during an interview in 2008. Schein, who owns the Park Theatre, was awarded $128,880 in damages. (CBC)

The method tears up the land, rather than tunnelling under it.

In 2016, the B.C. Supreme Court ruled that members of the class action couldn't sue for lost revenue. Instead, they could sue for lost value of the property in which they ran their businesses.

1st of many to sue

Schein, Dubberley and Gautam's cases were extracted from the class-action to be put through the courts first, with hopes of setting a quicker precedent that could be applied for others to come.

Schein was awarded $128,000 for his losses. Dubberley was granted $44,560 and Gautam won $7,600.

TransLink has been ordered to pay the damages.

The ruling came down on the same day the federal and provincial governments re-announced their commitment to more than $3 billion in funding for the Broadway subway and Surrey LRT projects.

Surrey's $1.65-billion LRT project has faced opposition from those who say its construction will be slow and disruptive to traffic.

Construction of that project is expected to begin within the next two years.

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