WIXOM, Mich. (WXYZ) — Pontiac Trail near Old Wixom road is a dead end. The road is ripped up for a culvert replacement and has been for two months.
“We have to take the detour all the way around just to get to any of the restaurants that are over on this side," Carmen Alvarez, a regular customer at Backyard Coney Island, said.
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She said she goes at least once and sometimes twice a week.
"It’s worth the details to come and eat. It’s home-cooked meals and stuff," Alvarez explained.
Several local business owners tell 7 News Detroit customers like Carmen are a godsend since the construction is crippling their business.
Victor Lajcaj is the owner of Backyard Coney Island.
“Oh, it’s been a tremendous set back... probably (down) about 30%," he said. “The staff, they’re not making money on tips. It affects everybody."
No customers, no tips and as a result, he said some of the wait staff has quit to find work elsewhere. To make matters worse, the Oakland County Road Commission said the two-month project will take a few weeks longer than expected. The delay will stretch toward the end of October.
“We’re still going to try and survive here. There’s not much we can do about it besides like asking people I guess to support the locals and see how it goes from there,” Diego Sanchez, a waiter at El Camino Mexican Restaurant, said.
He said business is down about 50%. It's bad, but not as bad as the BP gas station across the street.
Owner Marvin Poota said, “For the last two months, we’re down 70%.”
He said he’s had to cut employees' hours and lay some of them off. Poota said he’s wondering why the road commission didn’t isolate or create one temporary lane for traffic and why crews aren’t working more regularly.
“Today, for example, there’s nobody there working. During Labor Day holiday, they took six days off," Poota explained.
7 News Detroit took these concerns to the road commission. Spokesman Craig Bryson said the road commission can’t dictate when the contractor works as long as the project is done within the established time frame. He said the delay is due, in part, to challenges found within the existing infrastructure.
“We were probably overly aggressive in the schedule," Bryson said.
He said the nature of this type of project requires the entire road to be shut down.
“We understand the business owners frustrations. If we didn’t need to close the road, we wouldn’t do it, and we’d like it to be done as quickly as we could too," Bryson said.
To compound the problem, on top of construction, the businesses are also dealing with the boil water advisory stemming from last Thursday’s water main break in Novi.
However, these stores and restaurants want people to know they are here and could use a much needed boost.
