Businesses in the Hillcrest area say that their sales during the busy holidays are suffering due to the ongoing construction.
“Honestly, this construction has been affecting our business a tremendous amount. Customers have no parking on weekends, on our busiest days. You know, people are just doing laps and laps looking for parking and it’s affected our business a lot because people end up just leaving,” said Aria Tabaei.
The public works project began in 2025 and is part of a $7 million dollar infrastructure project.
“The 5th and Brookes Storm Drain Upgrade project aims to address a common concern in this area about flooding, which residents and businesses have complained to the City about, by upgrading the storm drains along 5th Avenue between Pennsylvania and Brookes avenues in the Uptown community,” city spokesperson Nicole Darling said in an email.
Business owners tell NBC 7 that the project is hurting their revenue.
“Our busiest days are the weekends, and we’ve seen our revenue go to half because of this, all because of this construction, because people want to come to brunch. They don’t want to just spend an hour looking for parking,” Tabaei said.
The city said the project officially began in April and is expected to be completed October 2026 pending any potential delays due to rain or unforeseen circumstances.
The current traffic control plan on 5th Avenue is expected to be removed in the spring of 2026, according to city officials.
The improvements are required as part of a legal settlement agreement involving properties near 5th and Brookes, according to city officials.
