Wadsworth Boulevard businesses and City of Wheat Ridge in Denver metro area work to address construction impacts
For years and for miles, drivers on Wadsworth Boulevard have seen orange cones, construction equipment, and storefronts that are harder and harder to reach. CBS Colorado talked with multiple businesses along the corridor, and they say there's been a significant impact on their business.
"Everybody expresses their frustration with everything that's going on right now," said Brewery Rickoli owner Rick Abitol.
CBS Colorado previously talked with Abitol and Ainur Studygulova, the owner of Mac & Cheezary. They are two of a handful of small businesses that have seen significant changes in foot traffic due to construction and lane changes. Both Abitol and Studygulova aren't landowners but business owners.
"We never got reimbursed for property loss because it doesn't belong to us and we pay the same amount of rent because we're still renting the place," Studygulova said.
With their concerns in mind, CBS Colorado took a walk with Maria D'Andrea, the Public Works Director of Wheat Ridge to see what can be done. The biggest topic was what the city says is a misconception about the construction timeline. Businesses along the corridor were under the impression that it was delayed. The city says that an extension of the project is actually operating along the original timeline.
"All of Wadsworth north of 44th Avenue will be -- the active construction will be -- complete this fall," said D'Andrea.
The challenge, Studygulova told CBS Colorado, is that property owners have been reimbursed for lost land or construction impacts to their land but business owners that rent the property are left out. In some situations, landlords have helped out businesses but others have not. The city says they can only do so much.
"It's very difficult to tie or correlate business impacts or lost revenue with the construction impacts," D'Andrea explained.
Wheat Ridge told CBS Colorado that they are looking into helping businesses with signings or flags to entice customers in addition to business access signs that have already been installed along the corridor.
"We recognize that it's difficult and can be challenging during construction," D'Andrea said. "The hope is that that improved access with better capacity...more vehicles even traveling down Wadsworth will benefit our smaller businesses."
The city went on to explain that businesses can apply for grants through the Wheat Ridge Business District, a non-governmental nonprofit with the goal of helping storefronts stay afloat as construction continues. This, as another shop, Purple Haze, which is right next to Brewery Rickoli, put in its 60-day notice to close last week.
