Graham Avenue businesses see drop in traffic as stretch of street closed to cars, buses for a year now

No engine noise has been heard on a stretch of Graham Avenue for a year now.

Picnic tables and murals took over the roadway in a bid to attract more Winnipeggers to downtown, but businesses in the area say quite the opposite has happened as foot traffic drops.

“You can fire a cannon down the street almost every day and have no casualties. It’s just really quiet,” said Aimee Peake, the owner of Bison Books.

Peake says since the buses left Graham Avenue, some of her regulars have had trouble getting to her store.

Although only a portion of Graham Avenue between Carlton and Garry Street is closed down, Peake says many people have the misconception that the entire stretch is closed.

“It’s extremely frustrating. And folks are coming in here and complaining all the time about it,” she explained.

Olivia Billson, communications director with downtown Winnipeg Biz, says they acknowledge the foot traffic issues in the area but say they keep monitoring the effect of the transit route changes.

“We know some businesses on Graham Avenue continue to face challenges, particularly those that previously benefited from transit-related foot traffic. We will continue to monitor how recent transit route changes affect activity in the area over time,” said Billson.

The BIZ is doing what we can to support our businesses and make downtown visibly more welcoming, animated, and full of life all year round. That includes ensuring our public spaces are clean and well maintained, creating activations and programming that reflect our community and give people reasons to spend time downtown, and working with government and our safety partners to improve public safety for everyone.”

Peake says, “It’s absurd. Almost every single path to the store is blocked by construction.”

Eric Saniuk, owner of Blazing Chicken Shack, says he is worried about the lack of pedestrians in the area and how this will impact her business long-term, as they have plans to expand the business across Manitoba.

“A little tough. We’ve lost quite a bit of traffic, and it’s supposed to go till October. But we are hoping it’s going to be done sooner rather than later,” said Sanuik.

Rochelle Squires, president and CEO of Centre Venture Development Corporation, says they have a few events planned like Salsa Sundays, a food truck festival planned for September, and a downtown farmer’s market.

Squires also pointed to the upcoming residential development in the area, including the old Bay building

“Mayor and council had mandated CentreVenture to help with that short- and long-term activation on Graham Avenue, recognizing that it’s gonna require multiple efforts and initiatives, and a lot of people coming together to truly activate this, the street and make it profitable for businesses and attractive for people in the downtown.”

Saniuk says he welcomes the idea of weekend events in the area and hopes this will help to bring more customers to his door.

“We’ve definitely noticed people showing up less. So it’s tough, especially as summer is the busy season,” said Saniuk.