BUFFALO, N.Y. — A lot of businesses have some serious concerns about the pace of the Allen Street road construction project, because they say it's hurting their businesses badly enough to the point that they may have to close.
"I don't know how much longer I can last," said Hamada Saleh, the owner of Caffeology, who was hopeful about the Allen Street road construction project not hurting his business.
This is what he told us in March, as work to replace a waterline and eventually widen the road got underway.
"You take a little loss for two to three months, and then you gain extra revenue in the summer I hope it balances out," Saleh said.
Instead of balancing out, he says he's been pushed to the brink of possibly shutting down.
"I had to lay off all the employees, minus one person that helps out two days a week. I had to cancel food because I can't pay for food costs. Not enough customers are coming by," Saleh said.
He says those former employees have found work elsewhere, as he tried to keep things afloat.
"I can't raise prices you gotta stay competitive," Saleh said. "This time last year we're five times the amount of sales that we are today."
And he's not the only one. Other businesses such as Cathode Ray, across the street, say shutting down the street and replacing sidewalks during the day have prevented customers from coming here.
Businesses here estimate that crews are one or two months behind.
Saleh thinks it would have been better to redo Allen gradually.
"Spurts would've been better, colder months, not prime-time business months, summer everyone is walking on Allen," he said.
He hopes customers eventually come back.
The city's commissioner of public works, Michael Finn, says in a statement that crews are going block by block on Allen to try to minimize impacts to businesses.
The city says that Main to Pearl, where Caffeology is located will be open to traffic by Labor Day and would not confirm that the project is behind.
Reconstructing Allen is a two-year project.