Kelowna

The City of Kelowna has yet to be officially notified of a lawsuit being brought against it by McDonald's Restaurants.

The corporation has filed court documents claiming the redesign of Highway 97 resulted in the closing of the McDonald's location at Highway 97 and Water Street in November of 2007.

The Highway 97, Water Street and Pandosy Street corridor was reconfigured as part of the William R. Bennett Bridge construction.

At the time of the closure McDonalds' Western Canada spokesperson, Chris Stannell, told Castanet news the reconstruction did make business more difficult.

"It's safe to say the changes to the entrance points going into the restaurant have made it increasingly difficult for that location," Stannell said at the time.

Kelowna Community Development and Real Estate Manager, Doug Gilchrest, says the city has been working with McDonald's for quite some time in hopes of reaching some sort of compromise.

"It's still too early (to know if they have a case). We have not officially seen the terms of the suit," says Gilchrest.

"And, losses like this do have to be proven."

Gilchrest says the two sides have not spoken in quite some time.

He expects some contact in the near future.

Gilchrest says businesses do challenge cities from time to time in regards to loss of business due to traffic pattern changes because of upgrades to infrastructure.

"The city is responsible for upgrading infrastructure to the benefit of all residents. We do our best to try and do any work as quickly as possible to minimize the impact of businesses."

Two other businesses in the same area, Tim Hortons and a Mac's convenience store and gas bar have also closed.