The Lead and Coal Improvement Project threw a wrench in residents and business owners’ lives when it tore up part of Yale Boulevard last month.
Yale Boulevard closed between Avenida Cesar Chavez and Lead Avenue on Feb. 21, and because of construction, the area will be shut down as long as 30-60 days.
Two Yale Boulevard-based auto repair shop owners said it’s difficult for automobiles to access the shops.
“We’re not doing so good,” said Sonia Chavez, the owner of Full Throttle Performance auto repair shop. “They don’t make it easy for people to get here, but there’s not much we can do.”
City officials didn’t return calls for comment about the construction.
The road in front of Full Throttle Performance is blocked by a large dirt hole and several backhoes. Chavez said employees have moved construction blockades to get to the shop.
Jim Glover, of JCM Automotive on Yale Boulevard, said he has seen a 70 percent decline in business since the construction began. He said JCM has been at St. Cyr Avenue and Yale Boulevard since 1975, and this isn’t the first time construction slowed business.
“There’s been no drive-in traffic,” Glover said. “I wish construction companies would work on one segment of the road at a time. Dig it up, work on it, re-pave it, finish it and then move on to the next segment so it doesn’t impact such a large area.”
Glover said he’s increased advertising and put fliers around UNM to draw attention to the shop.
Quarters BBQ at Yale Boulevard and Avenida Cesar Chavez also increased advertising and posted large “We’re Open” signs and a map showing the best way to get to the restaurant.
Business owners aren’t the only ones suffering through construction.
UNM student Lucy Packard lives in the area, and she said she walks to school through the construction.
“I walk straight up Yale, and it’s so empty I feel like I’m walking through a wasteland,” she said.
Student Mari Valenzuela said the construction near her house has been inconvenient.
“It’s a pain in the ass,” she said. “Getting anywhere is just horrible.”
Students Julia Blitch and Dustin Bills said they have taken to biking to UNM instead of trying to drive through the construction.
“Still, though, sometimes we have to bike up the sidewalks to get through it,” Blitch said.
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Bills said he noticed traffic
increased near his house because of rerouting around the construction.
“There’s a lot … faster traffic, too,” he said. “And now all the buses go by here too since they’ve been rerouted.”
The Smith’s grocery store on Yale Boulevard is located just before the road closes, but cars turn around in its parking lot to avoid construction.
Store manager Tony Nieto said construction hinders business.
“The construction has affected us tremendously,” he said. “We’ve already felt a customer decrease by about half, but we’re just hoping our loyal customers keep coming back.”
