The owner of an independent wine store on Christie St., south of Dupont St. is campaigning to have a bus shelter in front of the store moved, arguing it makes it harder for potential customers to see the store.
A petition on change.org supporting the move had 148 signatures as of Wednesday, but it has also attracted pushback on social media.
"We have been here for 10 months in this current business, and people come in saying 'I drive by here all the time, walk by all the time, and I didn't really pick you guys up,'" said store owner Nelson Abreu.
"Visually when people drive by — if you're driving south — you you won't see us, you'll pass right by us. If you're walking on the other side of the street, unless you turn your head and look over, you're probably going to keep looking. So you're not going to see us."
Abreu said he would like to construct a patio in front of the store, which the bus shelter is in the way of.
The current bus shelter serves the southbound 126 Christie bus at Yarmouth Street, about 700 metres north of Christie station.
Abreu would like the bus stop moved down the block, south of a fire hydrant.
One question arises: if the bus stop is moved, and a new retail business opens behind it, what is to stop the same problems happening again in the new location?
Abreu argued that this is unlikely.
"The community has shrunk in terms of retail. There are only three retail spaces on this block remaining. The rest have all been converted to residential, even though at one point there were nine retail stores on our block," he explained.
"Everything north of us on Christie Street that is commercial, more than 50% of it is vacant — it's pre-pandemic [vacancies]."
The TTC recently learned of the petition, an e-mailed statement said.
"Transit stops may be changed for a variety of purposes, such as accommodating new routes and operational improvements, safety and accessibility upgrades, temporary construction and any major capital development affecting the construction of the roadway," TTC spokesperson Stuart Green wrote.
The process of moving — or deciding to not move — a transit stop, can take a number of months.
"Staff will reach out to the local councillor several months ahead of the planned change date for their feedback and other comments. Notices will then be placed on the affected stop three to four weeks ahead of their planned change to solicit feedback from the general public. Once the stop has been changed, staff wil monitor customer inquiries to ensure that any concerns are addressed."
While not all bus stops have shelters, the TTC prefers that they do, Green wrote:
"Shelters both improve the customer experience and help to support an inclusive and accessible transit stop environment. The bench and shelter protect from the weather and support customers' accessibility needs."
Abreu, for his part, says people waiting for the bus seem to prefer to stand under the awning of the coin laundry next door than in the bus shelter.
"I acknowledge that there are people in the community that feel the bus stop should be where the city puts it, and I'm totally fine with that," he says.
"I'm just feeling it out. This is still something that I'd like to discuss with the city. Everybody's gonna have an opinion on it."
