Ongoing construction has made parts of Lead and Coal Avenues inaccessible since November 2010, forcing some businesses in the affected area to close their doors and leaving others struggling to stay afloat.
Nan Morningstar, owner of Free Radicals located on the corner of Yale Boulevard and Lead Avenue, said her business has dropped significantly since construction began, while a clothing store across the street, Steppn-2-Style, was forced to close permanently.
“We talk to some of the neighbors and you’ll note that half of the businesses are gone,” she said. “It sucks.”
The construction is part of the $26 million Lead and Coal Improvement Project, which aims to update storm drain infrastructure, landscaping and lighting along Lead and Coal Avenues and reduce both avenues from three lanes to two lanes each.
The work is projected to be finished this spring, but local business owners said customers still can’t drive up to many of the businesses located on Lead Avenue, bringing in-store traffic nearly to a halt.
Ramzi Hijazi, owner and manager of Tri-H Convenience Store and gas station across Yale Boulevard, said the construction has been hurting his business since it began. While Tri-H is still accessible by car, surrounding road closures make the convenience store difficult to get to.
He said business has dropped between 50 and 60 percent, and he has been forced to fire employees.
“I’ve recently had to work in the store myself in order to compensate because I can’t bring in any new employees,” he said.
Luis Rodriguez, an employee at Casa De Piñatas, located on Lead Avenue near Yale Boulevard, said he’s never seen such a decline in business since the store opened 16 years ago.
“Business is down 60 to 70 percent from last year,” he said. “It’s been really frustrating dealing with the construction; we’ve already been broken into and robbed because the city took down all the lights in front of the store.”
An anti-donation clause in the New Mexico state constitution prevents the city from compensating businesses affected by the construction.
“Neither the state nor any county, school district or municipality … shall directly or indirectly lend or pledge its credit or make any donation to or in aid of any person, association of public or private corporation,” the clause states.
Mark Motsko, spokesman for the city’s Department of Municipal Development, said the city has made an effort to work with the affected businesses by sending notices in advance concerning road closures.
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“We’ve been doing outreach even before the construction started to let the business owners know that during construction we would work with them,” he said. “It hasn’t been for a lack of effort that we’ve maintained access to all the businesses in the corridor.”
Motsko said the city initiated the project in response to complaints concerning the high volume of traffic on Lead and Coal Avenues from those living in the surrounding neighborhoods. He said that before construction began, both Lead and Coal Avenues had three lanes, which carried up to 27,000 vehicles per day through highly populated residential areas.
He said the city sought input from a task force of neighborhood representatives before construction began.
“What we’re doing is following up with the neighbors’ requests to make it feel like a neighborhood-friendly atmosphere,” Motsko said.
