Construction standstill frustrates 17th Ave. business owner
'The only thing we need right now is to see boots on the ground and to see this work pushing ahead'
A 17th Avenue restaurateur is frustrated by the road work — or lack thereof — going on in the construction zone in front of his business.
The street is being torn block by block as part of a $44-million overhaul of 17th Avenue that is expected to take about three years to complete.
Buttermilk Fine Waffles owner Sam Friley says work on the road outside his business started in early September and was supposed to take a few weeks, but he hasn't seen crews at work on the torn-up street in days.
And the work on the is far from complete.
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"That road has been ripped up for about a month, but we've only seen people working on it for the first two weeks," he said.
Friley said the lack of progress in front of his business — between Second and Fourth streets — is making an already difficult situation even harder. Not only is his business suffering, the standstill is making it feel even worse.
"These businesses are extremely expensive to run," he said. "Restaurants run on a very small profit margin and the only thing we need right now is to see boots on the ground and to see this work pushing ahead."
3½ weeks more weeks
The city says it might not always look busy, but that doesn't mean work is being ignored.
Project manager Logan Tolsma says there was a standstill while the city dealt with a utility issue — but things are on track now.
"We are working hard to make sure that we can give the businesses what we can where we can and get in and out as quickly as possible," he said.
Tolsma said the construction in front of Buttermilk will last another 3½ weeks.
For Friley, he said staying afloat is already a challenge and the only thing that will get the restaurant through is getting their road back.
"If we're working weekends to try to make our businesses survive, the city needs to be working weekends and we don't see people working out there on weekends," he said.
"Everyone needs to play their part."