Restaurant owner says road work cost him thousands in lost revenue

A restaurant owner in Winnipeg's West End is calling on the city to improve their communication with businesses impacted by construction.

Tropikis Restaurant owner and chef Denesh Bahadoosingh said road repairs in front of his Ellice Avenue restaurant cost him tens of thousands of dollars in lost revenue this past summer.

His restaurant saw a 60 per cent dip in sales while crews did reconstruction work on the westbound lanes of Ellice from Arlington to Dominion Street, he said.

The work made it nearly impossible for customers to access his restaurant, Bahadoosingh said.

"It's been disastrous. It's at the point of whether I should continue in business," he said. "After doing it for 30 years you expect to be at least paying your bills and be decently well off, but when you have disruptions throughout the entire summer such as we did the impact is very great on the business."

The construction on Ellice Avenue started at the end of May and Bahadoosingh was told it would last throughout the summer.

"But they never said anything about the public not being able to come in," he said.

And it's not just his customers who were frustrated by the situation. Bahadoosingh said he's speaking out on behalf of neighbouring businesses that faced the same troubles.

"I am one of several businesses that customers are struggling to get to the front door," he said. "Down the street from me there's an Autopac place, there's another Vietnamese restaurant — you could not access their front door at times either."

He estimates he lost $35,000 in sales over the summer as a result of the road work, "which also affects your sales tax, your GST, if affects how many people I have hired.

"I usually carry a staff of six individuals, I am down to 2 ½ right now."

Work wrapping up, for now

A spokesperson from the city said the reconstruction work is wrapping up for the season but crews will be back in the spring to finish the job.

"Completion of this project was delayed due to unexpected complications in the coordination of the project and various delays in construction activities," communication officer Lisa Fraser stated in an email.

"Although the project will not be completed this year, Ellice will be fully open to traffic this winter with the construction of a temporary westbound lane, which will be in place until construction can resume in the spring."

Fraser said the city thanks drivers, area residents, and business owners for their patience.

Bahadoosingh said the city needs to do a better job keeping businesses owners like him in the loop when construction work will affect access to their storefronts.

"We have to do street repairs and sewer repairs … but we have make sure the merchants don't have to go through this again because it is pretty testing," he said. "They should have someone come and meet the businesses and try and find what their losses are.

"It could help others and help the city planners plan better and make them more aware of what's happening with the merchants in the area."