A Winnipeg pawn shop owner says the major construction project along McPhillips Street has prevented customers from accessing his store and driven down sales.
“It’s tough for customers to come in to access the mall when we have one entrance which is off Logan, and not having the second entrance off McPhillips,” said Mario Rodrigues, owner of City Pawn & Sales.
“It puts a big dent on our business.”
Rodrigues estimated his sales have gone down roughly 30-35 per cent since May. He said many of his customers take the bus, and transit routes have also been impacted by the roadwork.
The city’s initial plan was to keep one northbound and one southbound lane open to traffic. However, crews recently discovered further problems while digging underneath the McPhillips Street Underpass which has forced them to block off the last northbound lane.
While Rodrigues understands the work needs to be done, he does have a message for the city.
“I believe they should restructure their programs around the businesses that are in the area so that we won’t take as much of a hit at once,” he said.
He added that if the construction continues to hinder his business, he may be forced to cut hours or even layoff staff.
“It would be nice to get some help from the city on a tax break, or business tax or something like that.”
The full closures officially come into effect at 6 p.m. Friday evening.
The city recommends using either Route 90, Keewatin Street, or the Slaw Rebchuk Bridge as alternate routes.
Right now the plan is to have one of the northbound lanes reopened within the next few weeks, while the full project is scheduled to be completed by November, the city said.
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