02-04-2016, 02:59 PM
I think the businesses have a legitimate complaint. I'll be less likely to head uptown for certain things this year - because its definitely going to be more of a pain to get around.
That being said, the region is also right. Construction happens all the time for maintenance and improvements and we can't subsidize all of it. And in this case the LRT is almost certainly going to bring more business uptown once its running.
Maybe there's a way to compensate businesses by looking at their books and covering some new losses now but pay for it by taking some new gains in the future. But I suspect not many people would go for that.
That being said, the region is also right. Construction happens all the time for maintenance and improvements and we can't subsidize all of it. And in this case the LRT is almost certainly going to bring more business uptown once its running.
Maybe there's a way to compensate businesses by looking at their books and covering some new losses now but pay for it by taking some new gains in the future. But I suspect not many people would go for that.