National Post (National Edition)
Government Street, Victoria
Rob Shaw, Vancouver Sun
A red construction crane swoops slowly over Victoria’s Government Street, as the sound of hammers and drills echoes down what is usually the city’s busiest downtown intersection.
There should be horse-drawn carriages, double-decker buses, pedicabs, water taxis, seaplanes, ferries, buskers and street vendors all around this bustling harbour promenade. The first cruise ship of the season in one of the busiest ports in Canada was set to arrive this week — a key moment for a local economy built upon tourism — but COVID-19 has cancelled all of that.
Instead, on Wednesday morning, a cyclist in a yellow jacket braced against the cold rain pedals past the iconic 112-year-old Empress Hotel (closed) near the 123-year-old B.C. legislature (also closed).
A white hatchback pulls up to a red light at Government and Wharf streets, where the city installed a new “scramble” crosswalk this year to allow for the dozens of tourists who typically clog the crosswalks in every direction. Not a single pedestrian crosses as the car waits. A man with a briefcase ambles past the vacant Tourism Victoria booth. A couple of bobbing umbrellas can be seen in the distance. One jogger bounces by in a drenched grey T-shirt. Traffic is a light, but steady, mix of commuters, city buses, taxis, municipal works vehicles and construction trucks.
The red crane on Government Street keeps spinning, delivering two port-a-potties at the ultra-luxury Customs House project. It’s a quintessential Victoria development project — the heritage facade preserved, but rebuilt on the inside with units so expensive most local residents can’t afford them (the penthouse pre-sold for $10.79 million).
Most of the city’s soundscape now comes from the many condo construction sites, where work continues uninterrupted.