For months, the pavement on Mingus Avenue has been torn up. Sixth Street is down to just one lane, reserved for local traffic only. From Friday to Monday, even that was cut back, with the whole of Sixth Street under construction.
For businesses on Mingus Avenue, it’s had the predictable effect.
“I have some customers that I’ve seen in the grocery store that I haven’t seen in six, seven months,” said Trina Walker, the owner of Annie’s, a restaurant at Mingus and Sixth. “They said they don’t come down here, because they don’t want to thrash their own personal vehicles. Those are their words. They say it takes too long and it’s confusing to get through.”
Walker claims her business has decreased by 51 percent in the past six months. Compared to this time last year, she’d guess it’s fallen by close to 25 percent.
“A lot of time they just avoid this place altogether because it makes them nervous,” she said.
Jerona Cafe owner Michelle Malkin has been feeling a similar pinch. Jerona has experienced a 30 percent drop in business since the work started in July, according to Malkin.
“The everyday travel-in business is down significantly,” Malkin said. “What that’s forced us to do is find other streams of revenue because we’re so dependent on day-to-day revenue.”
Walker and Malkin don’t have a problem with there being road work. Both agree that the road needed to be fixed up, but they nevertheless complain that this stretch of road work has been going on longer than they had expected, with no end in sight.
“I do think it was necessary to do,” Malkin said. “It’s the price you pay for progress, and I think it’s good from an economic development standpoint. What I struggle with a little bit is the lack of care and understanding for businesses like ours, and how lightly the city takes it. They may be talking behind the scenes in planning meetings and it never gets to the businesses. Nobody walks through your door and says, ‘Here’s what’s about to happen to you. Here’s how you can plan better.’”
“We get an update every week, and they put it off four times due to weather,” Walker said. “And there was no weather. A lot of the time they don’t even work on Friday. So I think that’s what’s been taking so long. And with only four guys working on it, it’s gonna take a long time.”
For the time being, businesses affected by the road work are staying afloat. Malkin has taken to finding alternative revenue sources, including renting out some of the property, catering and special dinners at the cafe. But Walker worries about how much longer her restaurant can survive with the road work keeping business away.
“Both of us have used a lot of our reserve during this project, and we just want it done sooner rather than later so we don’t end up being forced out of business,” Walker said. “I have a daughter that I name this place after, Annie. I adopted her — she was my second foster care child, and she has special needs. One of the reasons I opened this place is to show her there’s more to life than having a disability. She’s 7 years old and she’s amazing, and that’s why I named it Annie’s. But I don’t know if I’m going to be able to show her that dream unless they hurry up and finish this project.”
Martin Smith, the project manager for the Mingus Avenue construction project, did not respond to a request for comment.
Jon Hecht can be reached at 634-8551, or email jhecht@larsonnewspapers.com
