The Brief
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Road construction woes in Troy have businesses and customers frustrated.
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A $23 million project is underway to turn Rochester Road into a boulevard.
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Business owners and employees say that the project has hurt their bottom line.
TROY, Mich. (FOX 2) – Road closures, delays, big construction equipment blocking roadways — for drivers — it’s called construction season.
The backstory
But for many small businesses in Troy, some say the road construction from the Rochester Road project means a loss in revenue.
The $23 million project will turn Rochester Road into a boulevard – with some business owners say their customers are having challenges reaching them.
One stretch is down to one lane on each side, while it is closed at Long Lake Road.
Those like Mike Davidson, who is a Jet’s Pizza franchise owner, spoke about the challenge to his business.
“Please take these small businesses into consideration,” Davidson said. “We’re struggling.”
Celine Doan and Dena Tran are nail techs at LV Nails and Spa.
FOX 2: “What’s the profit decline been like?”
“I would say probably like half, because we used to have a lot of business,” said Doan.
Everybody was working, like normally I’m booked back-to-back,” said Tran. “It’s so slow, I was just chilling in the back taking a nap.”
Scott Finlay is a City of Troy engineer.
FOX 2: “How is the city helping?”
“We put business open signs,” he said. “We’ve tried to put arrows out there with the signs where the access points are. If they want their name on a sign DPW can make up a sign just for that business. We understand it will be a hardship for everybody – construction is inconvenient.”
Some businesses say they are losing thousands of dollars a week and they would like some financial help from the city.
The Source
Information for this report is from interviews with business owners, workers and a city official.
