Lincolnway West business owners upset over road construction

May 02, 2012|By Denise Bohn | WSBT-TV Reporter

Businesses along a busy stretch of road in Mishawaka say the new sewer construction project is costing them thousands of dollars a day.

Lincolnway West has been closed since Monday between Ironwood and Logan.

During the 3-week-long project, several business owners say they were promised at least one lane of traffic would be open each way.

That is not the case.

The road is completely closed to traffic from Meridian to Carlton.

It's unusually quiet inside the Auto Clinic located along Lincolnway West in Mishawaka. Owner Eric Sanders finds himself twiddling his thumbs instead of answering his phone, which normally rings 15 to 30 times an hour.

But there is plenty of noise right outside, coming from construction crews working to rehab the sewer system.

"I lose between $3,000 to $5,000 a week by this closure," says Sanders. He says 16,000 cars normally travel Lincolnway West each day, and he says over 80 percent of his business is walk-in customers.

WSBT Reporter Denise Bohn talked with several business owners who are impacted by the traffic closure.

"On a normal day when you have Lincolnway open, how many people would you have coming in? Bohn asked John Magrames.

"8 to 10," Magrames answered.

"And what do you have now?"

“Zero," says Magrames, who has owed Magrames Motor Sales on Lincolnway for more than 30 years.

He says construction crews promised some traffic would still be allowed through.

"When I originally talked to these people, we were going to have one lane open each way. I said okay. Well, now you see they blocked it."

Magrames and other business owners impacted received a letter from HRP Construction on Friday apologizing for any inconvenience, but saying parts of Lincolnway had to be closed entirely so that crews could dig a 20-foot hole to reach the main sewer line.

But businesses want compensation, not an apology...

"The City of Mishawaka has to come up with something. It's not necessarily a business-friendly community as it is," says Sanders.

Several business owners have a meeting with Mishawaka Mayor David Wood Thursday afternoon to talk about their concerns. Some want to know if they can be reimbursed for any financial losses due to the construction. Others are pushing for crews to work at night, under lights, or on the weekends when many of the businesses are closed.

Mayor Wood tells WSBT that he is pushing crews to work overtime to finish the job ahead of schedule in order to minimize the impact on business in the area.

WSBT is planning on attending that meeting and will bring you an update on this developing story.

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