Dharm Makwana

Not a day old and the Dunsmuir bike lane had already proved bad for business, according to a downtown shopkeeper.

Minutes before Mayor Gregor Robertson officially opened the two-way protected lane for cyclists Tuesday morning, Igor Kivritsky, owner of HiFi Centre, told 24 hours he stands to lose more than $1 million in sales this year because westbound drivers are no longer permitted to make right turns on Seymour Street.

He added, deliverymen piloting five-tonne trucks must double as stunt drivers to navigate a "teeny tiny" divide in the barrier that allows access to an alley which his Seymour Street shop backs out on.

"Our genius mayor made it difficult for our clients to get here," charged the high-end electronics retailer. "He just sits there with his big smile and says, 'Tough. This is what I want to do to advance my political career.'"

Kivritsky claimed Mayor Robertson and council have ignored requests from the downtown business community in favour of appealing to a small political base of cyclists.

"What the mayor's trying to do is drive social change by force," he said. "The way we're going about it is to help one person we must inconvenience a thousand."

But city staff distributed more than 1,000 information pamphlets to businesses one block north and south of Dunsmuir Street about the changes.

"We have to take a good look at what the impact is and the nature of it," Mayor Robertson said of an ongoing analysis. "I mean, we're not closing any streets. We've taken a lane away in the section of Dunsmuir and restricted right turns on two streets so it's a pretty minor shift. There are other ways to access every business throughout this area."

Cyclists apparently have taken notice as the city logged a 10-fold increase to 1,000 cyclists taking the Dunsmuir lane per day.