Sales decrease for business owners on Academy, feel construction impacted livelihoods

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO)- On Thursday the Colorado Springs Mayor met with frustrated business owners. They're struggling to stay open because of the Academy and Airport construction. 

What was once a simple trip now takes people at least a 15-minute detour. 

When people drive down Academy and Airport they will likely notice two things the construction on the road and the traffic. But what people might not see are the businesses on the sides of the road. 

"There is not an entrance by us, we don't have an exit, we are blocked in… in an L shape," said Mildred Boden, Owner of Pedacito Boricua Cafe. 

She opened in December and is no longer serving in-person due to the construction. She's a door dash and delivery-only restaurant now. 

"Because of that we are no longer in person because people avoid physically coming to the location they don't want to come and sit down to eat here after they have had to deal with the endless amount of turns they have to do just to get to this site," added Boden.  

And sales have dropped significantly since crews started the road work. Pollos Guadalajara, a food truck located outside of Luna Market is considering moving because of it. 

"Our business has lost so much, our customers are constantly calling us complaining about the situation, we have also gotten a lot of any phone calls with clients angry at us, telling us we need to change what's going on, but we can't do anything about it," said Ana Pérez, manager of Pollos Guadalajara.

KRDO13 did talk with city leaders about this construction project and they tell us are trying to provide support to those small businesses. 

"We highly encourage folks to continue to be patient and go through and support those businesses in the area. On the construction side, we've been working on ways to improve construction or access points during construction and improved signage to let folks know those businesses are open," said Gayle Sturdivant, Deputy Public Works Director.

City leaders mentioned two of these four lanes should be open within one to two months to help ease the traffic and help businesses on both sides of Academy increase their sales.