Rasta Flex has sat at the corner of Oakwood Avenue and Eglinton Avenue West for 30 years.

But you wouldn’t know it’s there. The shop has been tucked behind tall fencing that lines the street since construction started on the Eglinton Crosstown’s Oakwood station a few steps away. “Nobody can see my sign,” behind the thick barriers, store owner Debbie Edwards told the Star. She said her business “went down the drain” after construction started on the Eglinton LRT.

The project was previously scheduled to open in 2020, but in 2015 the province announced it would be delayed until 2021. Recently, the Crosstown suffered a setback that will delay completion until 2022.

Edwards is behind on rent payments, relying on a foodbank once a week because she has exhausted her savings trying to keep her business running. “Everybody around here is suffering,” she said.

Even if customers could see the sign advertising the Jamaican clothing store, it’s difficult to get to. The sidewalk nearby is closed, forcing pedestrians to cross a busy intersection twice if they want to get around the fence and visit Rasta Flex. “I need this thing to move,” Edwards said of the construction fence. “It’s unfair,” she said. “We’re going to ... leave and go someplace else.”

Before the construction started, business was good, Edwards said. “It’s hard to see when you have your (store) and nobody comes to look at it.” Edwards noted people used to travel from as far as Hamilton and Kitchener to shop with her, but a lack of accessible parking has driven away those willing to commute to her.

“I’m so desperate. I need money to pay my bills,” she said.

Sometimes her son and daughter lend a hand, but Edwards is reluctant to take it. “My son will help me, but I don’t want to take things from him every time, because he has kids,” Edwards said.

She’s not alone. All along Eglinton, there is evidence of shops that have been abandoned by their owners. Many said the same to the Star —that despite their best efforts, foot traffic has decreased and with it their businesses.

“You could definitely see that (business) is slow,” Sharon Walker, owner of Shanor Hair and Beauty, told the Star from her salon near the corner of Eglinton and Marlee Avenue. “You don’t get the walk-ins at all,” she said, stressing that she worries pedestrians don’t feel safe walking in the area.

“I think it’s going to take a much (bigger) toll on us then we anticipated,” Walker said. Her salon has not always been located on Eglinton. At one point, she was located on St. Clair Avenue and weathered the construction of the dedicated streetcar track.

“I’m hoping that things get better. The change will come, but at the same time, it’s affected us,” Walker said.

“And people will leave if you can’t afford to pay your rent.”

Councillors Josh Matlow (Ward12 Toronto-St. Paul’s), and Mike Colle (Ward 8 Eglinton-Lawrence), who both represent wards where work for the crosstown is taking place, held a press conference at the corner of Yonge st. and Eglinton Ave. on Tuesday evening, calling on the province to compensate businesses that will be affected by the delay.

“Today was the breaking point,” said Colle, claiming that he knows of 100 businesses that have closed as a result of the construction disruption and delays, which he blamed on Metrolinx and the province.

“Because they can’t get their act together more businesses might go under,” he said, adding that “tens of millions” of dollars are needed to compensate businesses.

Matlow said that local residents are also being kept awake and inconvenienced by construction noise.

“We know that improving transit is the dream...(but) the construction is a nightmare,” said Matlow, adding that the delays send a bad message to Toronto residents living in areas where other developments are planned.

The councillors also want to see sidewalks and streets freed from as much construction materials as possible.

Don Peat, spokesperson for mayor John Tory, told the Star in a statement, “The Mayor has certainly made it known that businesses along Eglinton Avenue need this finished and commuters need the transit. He is confident the Premier and the Minister understand this,” Peat said.

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“I unreservedly apologize to the community for the delay. It was unforeseen and I am doing my level best to ensure we get this project open as soon as possible,” Metrolinx president Phil Verster said Tuesday.

In a statement, Metrolinx spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins told the Star the Crown company “completely understands that the construction has an impact on people travelling along Eglinton Avenue (vehicles, transit users, pedestrians, cyclists), adjacent residential neighbourhoods and on the businesses, most especially the small local shops who may have already been living through difficult times.

“Building massive projects like the Crosstown is no doubt difficult for all during the construction but the community will have a huge benefit when it is finished,” said Aikins.

“Metrolinx is working with the community to ensure they have updated information on the project and its impacts,” Aikins said, noting that signage has been implemented to direct the public to local businesses that may not be visible due to fencing.

Aikins also noted that a delay in the project would not necessarily result in a delay on the work being done at street level.

With files from Francine Kopun and Ben Spurr

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