'20 minutes for something that should take five': Drivers, businesses grow weary over Wellington construction

Drivers and businesses along Wellington Street in London’s downtown area continue to feel the pain as the city works on the downtown loop for the bus rapid transit project (BRT).

On Wellington at the southern gateway into the core, a sea of orange and black cones greets drivers. The multi-lane through-fare reduced to just two lanes as crews continue their work.

It’s so bad, drivers avoid the area all together, says business owner Ryan Alnajjar.

He operates Car Tech Auto Center on Wellington at Simcoe Street. He said business is down 50 per cent in the past year.

“They’ve been blocking the streets without doing anything for a very long period of time. And recently they opened up this side of the street and they blocked the other side. But as you can see, no-one is here,” Alnajjar explained.

The opposite side of the street, the west side, is barren and quiet, and closed to vehicle traffic.

A sea of orange and black cones greets drivers on Wellington Street on Oct. 8, 2024. (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London)

Glo Gebral, who owns Gilgamesh Tattoos, said his customers can’t get to his parlour.

“It’s pretty hard for the clients to find a parking spot here and to find the business. And it’s also affecting the traffic. Like, they can’t see where we are while they’re going back and forth,” said Gebral.

Meanwhile, north of the rail bridge over Wellington, there is new construction activity as commuter challenges continue.

Overnight paving operations are taking place on Wellington between Dufferin Avenue and York Street. Vehicle traffic is closed in both directions from 7 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. every night.

One driver CTV News spoke with said even at the best of times, it’s a navigator’s nightmare.

“It’s taken me 20 minutes to go around to get to anything. I had to go to Via Rail, and you have to go all the way around and around up here and back this way to get a parking spot on this side of the road. So it takes 20 minutes for something that should take me five,” she said.

On top of everything else, downtown drivers need to be aware that both Queens Avenue and King Street switch to two-way traffic overnights until this Friday, Oct. 11, according to the city.

Two-way traffic runs from 7 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. each night between Clarence Street and Wellington, and from Wellington to Waterloo Street.